


Harsh Words

by CaffNTea



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Maybe Pernico?, Percy in the middle of a harem, Percy the Rebel, Percy x Multiple Girls, percabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-08-15 06:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8045950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffNTea/pseuds/CaffNTea
Summary: He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

A young black haired boy looked up at his mother with adoring sea green eyes. He lifted up a toy boat and motioned it around like it was cruising on the waves.

“Mommy, look at this!” He exclaimed with excitement.

The mother smiled warmly at her son as she stroked his hair. “That’s great, Percy. When your father comes back, make sure to thank him.”

Percy nodded as he jumped up onto the couch. “Okay mommy!”

His mother nodded back and stood up. “Honey, make sure to check the oven and tell me if it’s heating up too much. I’ll be checking on little Tyson.”

“You can count on me, mommy!” He replied.

With a little chuckle, his mother left the living room and went up to the baby room.

It had been what seemed like 10 minutes since his mother had left to check on baby Tyson, which got Percy worried because she was never that long. He grew impatient after waiting for another 10 minutes. The clock on the wall said 9PM, the time his father should be coming home at. That was when he heard a thudding sound above him. It was coming from upstairs, it was definitely coming from upstairs. Percy got up on his feet and left his toy boat on the couch.

“Momma? Are you there?” He asked. No response was made.

He then slowly made his way to the bottom of the stairs. “Momma, are you there?”

Yet again, no response.

Percy took a step up the stairs when he heard something…

“AHHHH!”

Immediately he ran up the steps into his little brother’s room where he discovered a horrifying site. Blood was splattered on the wall next to an open window, sobbing was made and he heard a knife sharpening. Eyes widen, Percy dropped to his knees as he found his barely 1 year old baby brother lying on the floor in front of him covered in blood and his mother grabbed by the hair, kneeling by an unknown man.

“M-momma…” Percy managed to say.

He had both of the scary man and his mother’s attention on him. His mother had a terrified look on her face and told him with her eyes to leave quickly before it was too late, but he couldn’t understand. And in that moment, Percy held his breath in as the scary man walked over to him and reached a hand out to grab his neck.

“Perseus Jackson. I knew you had another child, Sally. You’re such a bad liar.” The man said in his low and growling voice.

He lifted Percy up by the neck to which Percy tried to get out of but he was too weak. His throat started to hurt as the man squeezed on it.

“M-mom…” Percy screamed quietly as he was trying to pull the fingers away from his neck.

“Please! Let my son go! Have mercy on him!” His mother sobbed out as she banged her fists against the man’s back.

“Mercy? Mercy you say, Sally? Do you not know what your husband had done to me in the past? This is merely just my revenge.” The scary man said.

Percy nearly lost vision as his breathing became heavier. He was going to die. No. He didn’t want to die. Not now. Not when his mother was trying her best to save him. Percy tried kicking but his legs were too short to reach the man’s chest. He was too weak and too small to fight back. They were doomed.

“Kronos!” Percy’s father screamed at the scary man as he stepped inside the room.

He gritted his teeth as he saw the horrendous scene. “Let go of my son this instance!”

“Poseidon, how’s my favorite son?” The scary man dropped Percy and walked over Percy’s dad.

His mother immediately wrapped him up in her arms and murmured words of prayer. “It’s okay honey. It’s going to be okay.” She kept on saying.

“Favorite? I was never your favorite! Zeus was! He’s always been!” His father shouted.

“Now, now. Zeus was the eldest son of the family, of course I had to favor him but I looked at you the most. Noticed you the most.” His voice became serious. “But that was until you kids betrayed me, betrayed your family…”

“You killed our mother!” Percy’s father exclaimed.

“Because she wasn’t as suitable of a wife for betraying me, and I didn’t like her. Also, I don’t very much like your wife too.” Kronos pulled out a gun and pointed it at Percy’s mother. ”Say goodbye to your beloved wife, son.”

“Kronos if you dare—“

_BANG!_

Percy couldn’t feel the beating of his mother’s heart anymore and for some reason, he felt something wet drop on his head. As he looked up, he screamed. A hole had appeared on his mother’s forehead and as soon as the little boy tried to speak, she dropped to the ground.

“You…bastard!” His father charged at Kronos and within a second, another shot was made.

“I didn’t want to do this to you son, but you forced me.” Kronos pushed Percy’s father towards the young boy.

Then sirens were heard.

“Damn. I triggered the alarm…” Kronos went over to the window. “We will meet again and next time, I’ll finish you up too, Perseus Jackson.” He then jumped down and disappeared.

Tears streamed down the boy’s eyes as he crawled over to his nearly dead father. “Daddy…”

“Percy…I’m sorry for letting this happen. Your mother and I are…sorry.” His father was struggling to speak.

Percy shook his head. “No dad, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help you. I couldn’t be a man like you wanted me to be.”

His father reached his hand up to Percy’s cheek and wiped a tear away. “You don’t have to be a man now. Just promise me that you won’t hold a grudge against this and don’t do anything foolish…okay?”

He nodded as more tears streamed down his face. “Yes daddy! I promise!”

“Good. And know this, me, your mommy and Tyson loves…you…” His father’s hand dropped to the floor and the last breath was made.

Percy stared into his father’s dead eyes, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he would come back to life. But he knew better. He knew that his father was as good as gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you guys find the prologue? I’m sorry if it doesn’t make any sense. This is because I just finished this at 5AM in the morning. Yeah, I THAT dedicated to the story. Oh, but don’t worry, there’s still more to come! And yes, this story is quite gloomy so I apologize if it makes you sad or angry.  
> This is actually my first time publishing a fanfic…I’ve written tons of stories but never got to really finish them. Hopefully I’ll finish this since I’m putting everything aside for this!  
> Just to warn you all, I take quite a while to update depending on my mood and if I can continue writing each day. Also, I’m going to be going to America in a few weeks so I’ll be drawn away from the story for some time but I’ll definitely continue to finish off the story!


	2. She Who Had the Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

It’s been over nine years since the incident and a lot had happened during the time. Many things had changed as the years turned and for one, Percy knew that he’d changed. He changed either for the better or worse. He didn’t know, everything that’d occurred weren’t on his mind anymore.

“Percy, are you awake? It’s time for school.” Paul walked into the room and opened the curtains, letting the sun shine down on the sleepy kid.

“Ugh!” Percy moaned and turned on his side, facing the wall. “Go away.” He murmured but sounded angry.

“Son, you don’t want to be late on the first day back, do you?” Paul said seriously.

“Okay, okay. Will you get out then? I need my own space to change and shi—“

“No swearing.” Paul said before the deed was done.

“Yeah, yeah.” Percy stood up from his bed and pushed his step-dad out of the room. “Shoo. Go and make breakfast.”

His step-father stared at him in disappointment, “Didn’t I tell you to stop treating me like a slave? Use your manners please, boy.”

“Do I have to? Can’t you just leave?” Percy shouted back.

Paul sighed and shook his head, knowing that he’ll never get a polite answer out of the boy he raised for 5 years.

As soon as his step-father left, Percy slammed the door shut, cursing words at the man behind his back. He walked over to his bed and sat down. A picture of him and his parents was on the drawer surface, faced down. He stared at the frame for a couple of seconds then found the resolve to stand up and get ready for school.

After getting ready for the school that he ‘loved so much’, he made his way down to the dining room. Paul was already seated at the table and when Percy joined, he turned his attention away from the newspaper he was reading to the teenage boy.

“You better hurry up and eat, son. The school bus is coming in a couple of minutes.” Paul said, chewing on a waffle.

“I’m not taking the bus.” Percy replied out of rudeness, spreading Nutella on his toast.

A frown was spread across his father’s face. “Why not?”

“Do I look like I want to answer that question?” Percy impolitely said, taking a bite out of his breakfast.

Paul remained calm and nodded, not wanting for his son to go off throwing a tantrum. “Just make sure you get to school.”

Percy rolled his eyes and stood up, stuffing his meal in his mouth. “I’m leaving. See you at that trampy school.”

Before his father could reply, Percy picked up his bag and walked out of the door. He found the school bus waiting in front of the house and the bus driver giving him a nasty glare. He flipped the middle finger up at the stingy, old man then walked down the streets in the direction of where his school was. When the school bus past him, he found himself staring at someone’s blonde and curly hair. He cursed to himself, regretting ever seeing that. He knew the person that he was staring at, in fact, he despised that person. Having to live a life he never got- no. He shouldn’t be thinking about the past…

**~O.O~**

Percy made his entrance in the school halls loud and clear. He wanted the freshmen to know that he overruled them and he wanted his grade to remember who he was, especially one specific group. He walked past a couple of students and he could clearly hear their whispers.

“Have you heard? That’s Percy Jackson, the most ruthless and fearsome student in Goode High!” A freshman whispered.

“Seriously? That’s him? Man, he’s pretty scary. Lucky we’re not in the same year as him.” Whispered another.

Percy smirked. He made a name of himself in this lame ass school and nearly every student feared him.

All but one.

He gritted his teeth and kicked the nearest bin to him. Most students nearby jumped up in shock or ran away. He was frustrated. Frustrated at the fact that _she_ was still alive and walking around proud.

“Oi, Jackson!” A sandy haired blond boy walked up to him with his henchman, Ethan. “You got a minute?”

Percy looked up at the guy and raised a brow. “Oh, it’s Castellan. What do you want?”

“I’ve come to hear the answer. Will you join our crew or not?” He replied.

Percy snorted. “Are you serious? You didn’t already get it? I wouldn’t want to join your lame ass crew even if I were to die if I didn’t. And besides, you’re that woman’s boyfriend. I have no interest in siding with a guy like you who goes out with a girl like her.”

“Huh? Are you cussing my girlfriend?” Luke said in a nearly threatening way.

Percy chuckled and turned around, walking away. “What do you think?”

Luke gritted his teeth and glared at him. “She hasn’t done anything bad to you and you treat her like trash! That isn’t right, is it?”

Percy stopped and turned his head back, giving Luke his deadly stare. “What’d you say?” He then walked straight up to Luke’s face, still holding that terrifying look. “Do you even understand the situation between me and her? Hmm?”

Luke stayed silent.

“As I thought. So don’t go butting in on other people’s business, you cowardly idiot. And, it’s not like you’re any good either.” He coolly replied. “Now leave me alone. I hate it when you bug me and what’s worse, you come to me on the first day of our second year. I’m super pissed right now.”

“I-I’m sorry, Percy. He didn’t- we didn’t mean to get you mad!” Ethan stuttered as he tugged on Luke’s shirt. “Let’s go, before we cause any more trouble.”

Before leaving out of sight, Luke gave him a meaningful glare to which Percy replied with a smirk. Not noticing before, he found himself staring at a circle of students who witnessed the scene.

“Go. Scram you dumb-bots!” Percy shouted out.

The students did at they were told and within a couple of seconds, they left. He was about to walk onwards when he found himself staring at the person he hated the most.

“Dumb-bots, huh? Aren’t you categorized as one too?” The girl replied, tucking strands of her familiar blonde hair behind her ears.

Percy snarled. “Annabeth Chase. You haven’t changed a bit ever since the holidays. How disgusting.”

“I could say the same for you. I don’t see any of your ugliness change or that attitude of yours.” Annabeth replied.

“At least I’m better than that wimpy boyfriend of yours. I feel so bad for you- wait, I think I feel sorry for _him_ more considering you turned out to be more masculine than him!” He chuckled at his own words.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “You’re a bastard, you know that right?”

Percy simply shrugged. “So I’ve been told.”

Then the bell rang.

“Hope I never see you around, Jackson.” Annabeth said quickly, pushing past Percy in a hurry to get to her homeroom.

“Same goes for me, Neeky.” Percy responded with a smirk, knowing she hated the nickname.

Annabeth froze for a second, like she always did ever since freshmen year, then walked off. “Screw you, Jerkward!”

“Is that the only thing she can remember, my name?” Percy murmured. “How bothersome.”

**~O.O~**

After a good forty minutes of wasting his time carving doodles into the wooden desk, Percy looked up to find his English teacher staring down at him with a mean look.

“Percy Blo—“

“It’s Jackson!” Percy growled, not liking that his English teacher was going to call him by the old fish’s name.

“Fine. Percy Jackson, would you mind telling me what you’re doing?”

“What does it look like?” Percy responded in a lazy tone.

His English teacher grew furious. “Don’t talk to me in that tone, young man!”

“It’s not my fault you can’t see, you old hag!” Percy snapped.

He could see his English teacher’s vein pop and smirked. “Go to the principal’s office! Now!”

“If that’ll satisfy you, then okay…” Percy stood up, grabbed his bag and left.

He walked down the hallway of the school. No one was out, well that’s obvious since it’s only forty minutes through the third period. When Percy reached the principal’s office, he rolled his eyes as he saw the head of the school drinking his favorite bottle of wine.

“Mr. D.” He muttered.

“Perry Johnson, what brings your filthy butt to my office? Did you get into trouble again?” The principal asked, stroking his beard.

Percy sat down on the chair and nodded. “Spot on, as usual.”

“Is it to do with that English teacher of yours?” Mr. D asked again.

“Right on the dot, my man!”

“Don’t call my your ‘man’. It’s rude but being rude is apart of your personality.”

Percy sighed and gave the man a glare. “Can you just spit out your lecture? I hate waiting.”

Mr. D smirked and nodded. “Indeed. Well, there’s no lecture. Instead you’ll be pleased to know that you won’t be in that class anymore. I’ve moved you into another class that could raise your grades. Here’s the schedule and enjoy, you lazy boy. And do not worry, I’ll inform your teacher in just a bit.”

Percy narrowed his eyes when he read his schedule. “All my classes have changed.”

“You’re failing in all your subjects, kid.” He replied.

“Fine, then can I go now?”

“Certainly! And try not to get sent here again, I don’t like it when troublesome kids like you disrupt my free time.”

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t come here again…for today.” With that said, Percy left the room.

He looked down at his schedule and then up at the doors. He felt so much like a transfer student not knowing where each room was.

It pissed him off.

Then he found his new English room and opened the door. What he found inside shocked him too much, that it made him want to punch a wall. Standing at the front of the classroom was no other than Mr. Blofis, his happy-go-lucky step-father. He was holding a book in his hand that had the title ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, one of Shakespeare’s plays.

“Ah, Percy. Come here, we were just about to start discussing a book you’ll be fascinated to read and hear.” His step-father said.

Percy gritted his teeth and walked over to his dad.

“Introduce yourself. Surely not everyone knows who you are.”

Of course everyone knew who he was. He was usually the bad rumor people spread around the school. Talking like they knew what he did at times, but obviously they were all false rumors because he certainly didn’t get a criminal record or that he had beaten up a gang member. He’s just a kid gone wrong that everyone mistaken for as a criminal.

“Fine. I’m Percy Jackson. You get on my nerves and I’ll beat you up.” He said lazily but with an angry tone.

Then he spotted the familiar blonde hair again. Sitting in the middle of the class was the one and only Annabeth Chase, who seemed to have noticed him too since she was staring at him in horror. This was like a nightmare that came true. Well that was obvious since it _was_ Mr. D who organized the switching classrooms.

“Percy…” Paul said and pointed to a seat, he seemed to be worried with what Percy had just said. “Can you sit on the desk right next to Ms. Chase please?”

“Huh? Why do I have to—“

“Just do it, Percy!” Paul snapped, which shocked Percy.

He nodded and walked over to the seat next to his enemy. “We meet again, Neeky.”

“Shut up, Jerkward.” Annabeth whispered to him, staring down at the book they were reading.

“Ah, Annabeth can you share the book with Percy since there’s no more spares.” Paul asked.

Annabeth was about to argue but she kept her mouth shut and pushed her desk over to Percy’s. She placed the book on the halfway line of their desks and kept her eyes down, gritting her teeth. This actually made Percy grin a little. Even though he hated her with all his heart, he loved seeing her get mad, but it still didn’t change the fact that he was pissed off at his step-father. Paul knew that he and she didn’t get along well and he still had the courage to put them two together.

“Oh, I nearly forgot! We’re going to do a little project for preparation of the literature festival.” Paul said.

“But the literature festival doesn’t start until the beginning of spring, sir.” Katie, an honor student, replied. She was one of the few that Percy could remember the face and name of for some odd reason.

“I know but we need to prepare and last year didn’t go as well as we expected, did it?” Paul asked.

Most of the students nodded in sadness.

Stupid smartasses and their stupid perfection, Percy thought to himself.

“That’s why I’ve given us more time to prepare. And I’ll be putting you into groups, and depending on how successful you as a group are, you’ll be given a high grade for the winter semester.”

“Mr. Blofis, ain’t it gonna mess up the school system since the literature thing is in spring and we’re doing it in the winter.” Another kid, who Percy knew quite well, said. Connor Stoll, not the brightest but not the dumbest kid of his family.

He had a twin brother who was older than him and was currently sitting next to him. It would be surprising to know that they’re in the highest class for nearly all their subjects but they’re them, they could have cheated on all their tests. They were trouble but not the type of trouble Percy would cause but the type to make silly things. Percy was on quite good terms with them since he would pay them to smuggle equipment or to lend him a hand. They were probably the only people on his maybe-to-good list.

“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve talked to the principal and he says that it’s okay as long as you’re learning. Also, I’ll be testing you on your knowledge and teamwork and when spring comes, you’ll be able to present it to the whole school for the festival.” Paul informed them.

“Is it gonna be graded on in spring?” Travis asked aloud.

He shook his head. “No but your effort in your performance will be put down in your report.”

Travis banged his head on the table and moaned. “Effort? Arrrgh!”

Katie, who sat behind him, whacked his head with her book. “Quit your moaning, Stoll!”

“Ow…Katie, that’s a hardcover book!” Travis rubbed his head.

“Oh, I’m surprised that you noticed even though you’re a thickhead.” Katie said with a smile.

“Gah! Why are you smiling when you’re being mean? Meany! Meany!” Travis shouted.

Paul slammed his book on the table. “That’s enough. Katie and Travis, you can have your little lovers’ quarrel after class. We still have five minutes of English left.”

Everyone in class laughed, excluding those two, Paul, Annabeth and Percy. The loudest person laughing that they could hear was the snickering of Connor who got a punch from his brother.

Percy didn’t find any of it funny. He just found it annoying and a reason for him to persuade the principal that he shouldn’t be in this class.

“Alright. Now the jokes will stop. We need to—“ The bell of the end of class rang and everyone rose from their seats.

Paul sighed and clasped his hands together. “Okay. I’ll see you all for tomorrow’s lesson where I’ll decide who you’ll be grouped up with and we start reading Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.”

Everyone rushed out of the class like a herd of bulls. There were lots of pushing and Percy didn’t like it. He had the urge to kick and punch them but with his step-dad in the room, he couldn’t. Paul reminded him too much of his late father and he hated it. No one was allowed to replace his dad. Not even the man who raised him with love and care for five years.

“Move it bastards!” He shouted and shoved a kid aside.

Today was definitely pissing him off. Not only did he have to talk to Luke, he even had to share classes with a bunch of losers who only care about their stupid grades. Annabeth was one of them. She was basically the Queen of stupid grades. He didn’t like her one bit. She had the vibe of ‘ _I like pissing people off_ ’.

“At least say please, Jerkward.” Annabeth said, who was behind him, probably not wanted to be shoved.

“Why would I say _please_ to your prissy little minions?” Percy growled back.

“They are students from my- _our_ class! I won’t tolerate your foul words, especially on our fellow classmates!” Annabeth’s words grew harsher but Percy didn’t care.

He promised to never care anymore.

Especially for her.

“Leave me alone, Neeky. Your stench is blinding.” He muttered.

“My smell should have nothing to do with your poorly sighted eyes!” She snapped back.

Percy ignored her and kept on walking. Though they both had the same class next, he didn’t want to be anywhere near her because he would have urged to punch her until she looked like she was run over by a truck.

Still, Percy turned back just to take in a glimpse of what she did after his ignorance.

She was unnoticeably surrounded by her friends, well, people she considered as friends. When Annabeth glanced over at Percy, she only saw his back. He was lucky that she didn’t see him staring over because he would have been very much more pissed.

Yes. Today was the worst day to come to school. And today, he was going to be very, very, angry.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I took so long to finish off the first chapter even though it was a little too short for my liking. I was very distracted with upcoming events, such as my birthday and the release of Blood of Olympus! And, even though I don’t really need to tell you guys, I was re-reading this chapter to check for grammar and spelling mistakes. And I probably and might have changed sentences around.  
> Uh huh. Percy being very pissed off was the base of this chapter’s…well…chapter!   
> I still have to carry on reading Blood of Olympus but my friends have already spoiled most of the book for me so I want you guys to tell me…  
> Which couples do you want to get together?   
> This is probably going to be concerning more to Nico than the other characters but I want to know as soon as possible because everyone has different views and opinions, right?   
> I don’t mind if you guys don’t tell me now. I’ll ask for it in the later chapters and tell you when I’ll need an answer so for now…  
> Enjoy what to come next!
> 
> Sorry guys! I'll start uploading chapters every month starting from now! Mind you, it'll say like, 2015 and 2016 because I actually published them on Fanfiction.Net during that time. I'm still trying to finish the series off. Hope you all enjoy it!


	3. He Who Caused a 'Fire'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

Of all pupils that principal D could have chosen, he picked the wrong guy, was what Annabeth thought. She hated the likes of Percy Jack-Blo- whatever his ‘actual’ last name was. The thing was, no one really ever knew his last name too. No one trusted him or knew if he was lying or not. The teachers gave up on him one by one – except for his father, Mr. Blowfis – not expecting much from him. Even principal D did too but she guessed that because the inspectors were coming to check on the school, in a month, he needed all his students to be disciplined and smart.

 _Ha. Percy, disciplined, smart._ Annabeth mentally laughed. Those were the two things that never went well with Percy. And right now, math was going to be another.

“Percy, can you please tell me the equation—“ Mrs. Dodds looked up from her textbook that she held in her right hand. ‘Percy! Are you even listening?’

Annabeth looked from across the room to find that he was actually sleeping with his textbook hiding him. She rolled her eyes and thought how stupid he was. Covering his head and face with a textbook made it really obvious that he wasn’t paying attention whatsoever.

Mrs. Dodds came storming over to Percy and picked up his textbook and in one swift movement, she hit his head with it. Percy, after being hit, opened his eyes wide and sat up straight, looking up at the teacher’s deadly eyes. Mrs. Dodds would have been sued for hitting Percy but no one dared to tell on her, knowing how scary she was and to be honest Annabeth thought that he deserved it.

“Pay attention in class next time, Percy. Otherwise, I’ll give you a detention. I’m only letting you off the hook this time because you only just got here.” Mrs. Dodds said and walked back up to her desk. She brought her book up to her chest, walked to the blackboard and started writing things down.

Biting her bottom lip, Annabeth fiddled with her ballpoint biro pen. She cursed in her mind, wishing that Percy really _did_ get into trouble or got detention because right now, Percy looked back at her and grinned his ‘ _in-your-face_ ’ look. He really was an asshole.

**~O.O~**

 

Throughout the whole of the day, Annabeth thought she was cursed. In biology, Percy was her lab partner. He kept on talking to her and giving her annoying looks and grins. She thought he _hated_ her. Why would he want to even bother to talk to her if that was true? And the fact that he kept making mistakes and putting his hand up to ask stupid questions had annoyed her to the point where she thought a vein would pop on her forehead.

“—ercy, you must pay attention.” Annabeth glanced over her shoulder. They were now in their language class and their French teacher was tapping her hand on Percy’s desk, which was two rows behind Annabeth – thank god.

“Percy, considering you were sleeping, you must have known the translation up on the board. Would you please walk over and write out the translation?” It was more of a command than a question.

Percy muttered something under his breath and stood up, glaring at the teacher, who did the same back to him. He walked up to the chalk board and loudly, as if he did it on purpose – which he probably did – wrote out the translation under the French words. Annabeth couldn’t read his handwriting as it was sloppy. The teacher probably didn’t even know as well, considering she sent him back to his seat before he could even finish off the sentence.

“Alright, Percy. You may sit back in your seat now. And make sure not to sleep in class. We still have half an hour left.” Percy groaned at this, ignoring the death glare of the almighty French madam.

After a couple of minutes, Percy had ‘excused’ himself to go to the ‘bathroom’. Annabeth had her suspicions but unfortunately, she was right. The minute Percy walked out of the door, the fire alarm set off and everyone in class was screaming. The French teacher was trying to calm everyone down saying: “Calm down. It might only be a drill. Calm down.” All the students of the school ran out of the building and lined up at a safe distance from the building.

“Lou Ellen?” Annabeth could hear Mr. Brunner call the names of his students.

“Here!” Said the girl, who was apparently the smartest girl in Chemistry.

Annabeth turned her gaze to her class. She didn’t see any signs of Percy anywhere, which scared her. She kept adverting her eyes in different places to see if he’s actually outside.

“Annabeth Chase.”

“Annabeth Chase!”

“ANNABETH CHASE!”

She blinked a couple of times, only realizing then that the teacher was calling her name. “Oh, here Miss!”

She raised her hand so that the teacher could see her, then she fixed her gaze on the school building. She was so fixated on finding that guy she thought of was a ‘piece of crap’ that she didn’t even notice Luke tapping her shoulder until he shook it.

“What?” She screamed out angrily but unintentionally. After realizing the error she made in her tone when she saw him, she apologized in her own stubborn way, growling ‘sorry’ under her breath.

Luke just smiled down at her, kissing her forehead. “It’s alright, babe. Relax. Everything is alright. It’s probably just a drill.” He murmured in her ears as he hugged her comfortingly.

At the embrace, Annabeth felt a part of her wanting to just say nothing and the other wanting to punch the hell out of her boyfriend. He thought she was scared there was going to be a _real_ fire.

Was he an idiot or what?

This wasn’t preschool where everyone used to scream every time they saw a spider, and _of course_ she knew there wasn’t a real fire. This was why she disliked most traits of boys. They always bunched her in with stereotypical girls who were weak and scared of nearly anything that touched their skin. She hated sexism and what was worse? Luke was one of the most sexist boys in the whole school. Her friends didn’t understand why she was with him because they knew her preferences. She didn’t understand either. She guessed it was because Luke was her first ever love and crush.  

She then felt Luke gasp from the rising was his chest and the loosening grip on his arms. “Babe, isn’t that Jackson coming out of the building? He looks like shit.” Luke chuckled a little.

Annabeth immediately turned her gaze over to the jet black haired boy who was slowly walking down the steps of the school building. His shirt and arms were covered in soot, his short hair was wet, the front of his hair partially covering his sea green eyes. The bottom half looked a little worse. The dark blue jeans that he wore were ripped and blood stains were obviously shown. The leg of the material was singed, almost able to have shown his flesh, and his shoes, he was only wearing _one_ shoe on.

Although Percy looked like he had just come back from the dead, he definitely seemed happy.

Until someone called him by the wrong name.

“Percy Blofis!” In a second, Percy’s eyes turned cold and he gave a snarl at the man who was calling him.

“Oh, Mr. Nailclipper. What a nice surprise!” He said, exaggerating so much that everyone noticed it.

The brown haired teacher stood in front of him with narrowed eyes. “It’s Mr. Ironclipper, you deviant and obnoxious boy. Explain your clothing- no, explain why the fire alarm went off? Judging by your appearance, you were involved.”

Mr. Blofis walked up behind Mr. Ironclipper and tried to calm everything down. “Now, now. There is no proof that Percy have made all this happen.”

The man beside him gave a glare. “Mr. Blofis, I understand you want to stand up for your son but he was the last person to come out of the building and not to mention his records!”

Percy just looked at them then averted his eyes over to Annabeth, who was staring right back at him. He gave her a wicked smile, which made her cringe and want to storm over there and strangle him. He was really annoying and she didn’t know why he picked on her the most. She didn’t nothing to him. She never met him until the start of freshmen year and even then he still treated her like she was a traitor.

“Babe, you okay? You’re eyeing up Jackson over there like you wanna kill him or something.” Luke said, in a low and concerned voice.

Annabeth took her gaze away from Percy and looked up at her boyfriend. His blue eyes were gorgeous. She thought he was pretty handsome – a reason why she fell for him – and he was kind of cute when he was worried about her. That was probably one of the few benefits she liked about him.

Annabeth just shook her head, smiling a bit. “No. He just…pisses me off in every possible way.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah. Me too. That scumbag called me a cowardly idiot even though I asked him politely to join my crew. He’s such a dickhead.”

Annabeth leaned away from him, raising a brow with confusion. “Why would you ask him to join your group?”

“Babe, we already talked about this, remember? I needed him to help out on the streets. Me and my boys can’t…work without the help of someone who’s already had a criminal record.”

Now Annabeth was definitely confused, she also winced a little at his bad grammar. This was one of the times where Luke would only usually, briefly talk about his so-called ‘work’ and even though she hated Percy with a burning passion, she had to disagree with the whole ‘criminal record’ thing. There was no official proof of Percy having one and Annabeth had to admit, though he had that dangerous and bad guy vibe around him, she could never picture him having any business to do with being a criminal. But then again, she didn’t know Percy. She didn’t know who he actually was, what he really was – except for being a major asshole.

“Percy Blofis! Get back here immediately!” She heard Mr. Ironclipper shout.

At this point, she saw Percy already marching her way. She saw him give the teacher the middle finger and curse. He looked really pissed alright, and she somehow knew that it wasn’t because Mr. Ironclipper said his name wrong.

As he passed her, Annabeth couldn’t help but give him a worried expression. Yeah he’s been a total jackass to her, but she knew there probably were reasons. Maybe it was because of her mom or something that made her emphasis with him. What shocked _her_ was that she went to follow him, despite the shouts of anger coming from her boyfriend and the teachers. It was a relief Percy didn’t notice her until he reached the park and turned around.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He growled.

Annabeth didn’t know herself. She just did it unintentionally, but she couldn’t say that. It would have made her sound stupid. Especially in front of him.

“I just came to say that what you did in the school is irresponsible and you could have harmed someone!”

She then saw Percy narrow his eyes. “Oh? Miss Smarty Pants assumes I lit the school on fire, huh? You think _I_ turned the alarm on?”

“Obviously! Look at you! _Anyone_ would have assumed it was you!” She grew mad. Because of his attitude and because of him personally.

Percy began to laugh coldly. “You too, huh? I thought you were smart. I thought you were supposed to be _wise_. Now look at you Chase! You’ve become stupid. You just leap into action before you even _asked_ what happened. Maybe everything seemed like I did it but what if I didn’t, huh? I mean, come _on._ The school wasn’t on fire! You saw no flames, no smoke and yet you thought I did everything bad because of the way I looked and my reputation at this school!”

She became speechless because he was right. Percy, frickin’, Jackson or Blofis – whatever – was totally right. Annabeth always investigated things before she came to her conclusion. She would have asked the witness what happened before she made up her mind. And what was worse, he was right that there was no fire. He only looked as if there was and she blamed him because of who he was. Why did she accuse of something that she knew was wrong?

“Just go away, Chase. You’ve failed to meet my expectations once again.” He muttered before he turned away.

And just like he asked, she left. Annabeth walked away, feeling as if she’d just found herself again. As if she woke up from a dream and realized her faults. Though, she was more confused as to what the stupid Jackson was saying. What did he mean by ‘meeting’ his ‘expectations’?

Annabeth had a lot of digging up to do and she will definitely find out the reason behind the fire alarm and Percy Jackson himself. They were both full of mysteries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. Seems like Jackson has gotten himself into something big and troublesome.  
> What’s worse is that he involved the person he didn’t like the most.   
> Okay. Well, tell me what you guys think of this chapter and I’ll try to get in another chapter as fast as I can!
> 
> I am truly sorry that I didn't update in so long. I've been trying to catch up with exams and such--ANYWAY!  
> I'm going to put an alarm to update every month so do not worry, my fellow fanfic readers!


	4. She Who Cares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

As soon as Annabeth had left, Percy let out a sigh of relief and slid down on a swing. He wasn’t supposed to do that. He wasn’t meant to fix her. But she just got him so angry…

“Goddamn it!” He slammed his fist on the chain of the swing.

Percy’s feet hurt like hell. His legs were burning and his body stung like bees had just zapped him. A patch of blood was forming on the left knee of his jeans and he was feeling a little light headed. Percy knew he should call the ambulance but like hell would he do that. He was going to do everything on his own and he didn’t need anyone’s help. Besides, no one would dare to help a juvenile delinquent like him.

So he stumbled to his feet and began dragging himself towards his house, which was about a couple blocks down from the park. Many passersby just stopped and stared at him, probably thinking he was playing a joke or doing some kind of early Halloween trick. Of course he wasn’t but they didn’t know that. They just left him. Just the way he liked it.

Once he had arrived at his house, he opened the door immediately and ran – dragged – to the kitchen. He scrambled to get the first aid kit then sat down by the kitchen counter. Surely there were no guests at home or that his step-dad had come back so he stripped himself down to only just his shorts. Scratches, burns, bruises and cuts were seen on his arms, legs, chest and – because he could feel it – his back.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bi—“

He let out a loud yell when he moved his numb leg, which wasn’t numb anymore. A shard of broken glass found its way into the open wound of his calf and laid there like it was napping. Percy cursed at the sky – it was a habit – and breathed in as calmly as he possibly could.

“Argh!” He yelled out again.

The shard dropped on the counter with a nice and sharp scraping noise. Blood spilled on the surface of the kitchen counter and droplets of it were forming on the tiled floor. He was losing blood—no, he lost some already on the journey home. This was just more of it leaving his body. His head became light and unbalanced, letting his vision blur. Then he was seeing it again. The blood. The sobs. The man. The man who kept appearing in his dreams—nightmares.  

_THUD!_

**~O.O~**

 

A gentle and subtle hum echoed through the room. It was an unfamiliar song that was being heard, and yet it was so calm and felt like home. This person had a nice voice. He was probably dreaming or hallucinating or something like that because when he opened his eyes, all he could see was a girl staring down at him. Staring down with almond eyes. Her hair was caramel and the room smelt like it too.

“Oh thank the gods! You’re awake!” The girl screeched in excitement. She seemed to look pissed yet relieved at the same time.

Percy became aware of her existence, right in front of him. It threw him off and he thought she broke into his house— He quickly grabbed a pillow on the couch he was lying on and shoved it at her.

“Who the heck are you?”

The girl in front of him gazed down with a peachy face, unfazed by his growling. This was a different reaction to what he usually got. She just hushed him, dropping a towel on his face and turning away. The reaction was really confusing.

“Your front door was open.” She sound, loud and clear but the surprise was just too much that Percy had to ask again.

“…What?”

The girl sighed, leaning back a little. The smell of her hair blew into his face, an aroma stronger than the smell of the room. Cinnamon. “I said, your front door was open.”

Though the response was immediate in his mind, Percy had to hesitate a little – obviously because it’s easily shown that she treated him. He tried getting up and she didn’t stop him. The pain in his leg lessened than before but it was still there. A bandage was carefully wrapped around his leg, a small patch of blood appeared on it.

“So you just walked in? Like it’s normal?” Percy said with an aggressive tone, not even being thankful.

Even if the girl might have been annoyed, she sure knew how to hide it. All she did was shrug and tap the table. On it was a glass of water and a peanut and butter sandwich. Doubting that she was going to answer, Percy went ahead and asked:

“Is that drink for me?” He was not sure why he was being more polite to her than the old man that has looked after him for years.

She just nodded, picking the drink up and tilting it, as if she was trying to feed him some baby food. Maybe it was the fact that she was pretty. Maybe she kind of reminded him of someone. Maybe it was just the radiance that glowed around her that didn’t make him complain at all. It was weird, though. Never in his life was he ever this nice to someone as to let them _feed_ him. Yeah, he was pretty stubborn as a child in the foster home.

After taking a couple of sips of the lukewarm water, the girl lowered the drink to the table and stood up. Percy didn’t want to say anything. He was either afraid or she might have some kind of magic up her sleeve.

“I must go.” And before another word left her mouth or his, the girl left Percy’s front door.

It almost felt like a dream to wake up with someone nursing him – a pretty girl at that – someone who fed him water, someone who didn’t speak much or complained about his attitude. But, it kind of felt like a nightmare or an illusion. She came and left like a ghost. She had more maturity built on her looks than Percy ever did in his life. She was just plain…beautiful. That was the only word to describe her as. Maybe the girl was an intern to become a doctor, but she looked too young, then again there was the theory of people not ageing in look but in mentality.

With those thoughts, Percy stood up and started to pack away, remembering he had just bunked school and the old man would be back soon to check on him. Paul wasn’t even old but with the grey hairs and his sentimental voice, he fit into that description perfectly. Even his actions are slow and careful.

Pacing around with a pain in the leg wasn’t really speeding things up. Percy knew that just from trying to get up and not strain it. The girl did it carefully, from how she presented it and the drink that she gave him was very soothing. It didn’t even taste like water but it looked like it, which was weird. After a moment’s thought, Percy slowly walked upstairs to his room. He can shower when Paul gets back, just so that he didn’t have to talk to him.

**~O.O~**

 

It turned out that the girl who came into the house lived in the opposite house from Percy’s. He found this out after having an hour’s worth of lecturing from Paul about what happened. Apparently the girl – Calypso – just moved in a couple of days ago with her guardian and sisters. Paul decided to warm up to them and out of the family, Calypso was the nicest and interactive. The reason why Calypso just-so-casually entered his house was because Paul called her, worrying after Percy. Typical.

It was already night time when Percy finally showered, ate and got out of his dirty and seared clothes. Paul was working on some kind of “book” in his study so Percy took this opportunity to get out of the house for some fresh air. He walked out of the front door and looked up at the sky. Since he was near to the city, he could only see several shining stars in the night sky.

He made his way over to the swing. It was right next to the flowers and gardening gnomes. The swing was a 3-seater swing, cream coloured wood with striped cushions. The front yard was beautiful, filled with healthy plants and decorative gardening things that Percy didn’t know what it was called. Sitting on the swing also gave a good view of the street he lived on. He could also perfectly see Calypso’s house—

“GET SOME MILK TOO, CALY!” A really high and screeching voice shouted as the door opened.

After thinking of her, Percy saw the girl herself step out of the house in a blouse and jeans. She had a shopping bag in her hand and a purse in the other. Percy hadn’t noticed her looking straight at him until he squinted, seeing her eyes on his. He thought she was going to approach him until she turned on the pavements towards the convenience store.

Normally, Percy would just have left her like he did so to a lot people, but his brain forced him up and after her. This sudden urge to talk to her was new, strange and yet, thrilling. She wasn’t like the kids who made fun of him at middle school, like Annabeth or Luke. She was one for herself, observant and patient. This part of him, the part that wanted to make her an exception to his rules was turning him into someone good, someone familiar to him.

“Wait!” A wavering sound left his mouth and as soon as he saw her turn her head around to him, he smiled.

Calypso had an identical expression as he stopped in front of her. It was obvious that she knew he’d go to her, it was obvious that he knew too. It would have probably been an easy guess for others as well.

“I’m guessing you’re here to pay me back for babysitting you?”

Percy scoffed when she said that and shook his head. Sarcasm was hard to be identified with her. Calypso’s voice was hard and sharp, so serious, but her face told a different story. She gave him a cheeky grin, which he returned.

“In your dreams, Titan.” Percy mumbled as he looked ahead.

Calypso chuckled at her surname and nudged him, like they’ve been friends since they were young. That was the thing about Calypso that Percy noticed. She made him feel young again, like he hadn’t aged for years. It shocked him. Shocked him to think that within the short period they’ve actually talked, he wanted to know more about her. He strangely trusted her. It was his gut feeling, and he always trusted his guts.

“Why are you out? It’s the first time I’ve seen you step out of your house – unless you’re going to school.” Calypso asked him that, giving a look as if she’s known him for so long.

Percy shrugged at her question. “I guess…I just needed a breather? Today’s been a heck of a day.”

“You’re not going to tell a stranger what your day’s been like, are you?”

He made a face at her and shook his head. “Heck no!”

They walked in silence for the journey to the 7-Eleven. Percy could feel his heart beating so loud in his ears; his hands couldn’t stop clenching and unclenching, and when he saw Calypso trying and failing to come up with a starting conversation, he’d immediately look away. It was a weird feeling that he had. It was one of those feelings where you can’t explain what’s going on.

“What are you buying, anyway?” Percy asked, just to break the silence once he saw the sign of the store in view.

Calypso stared up at him before dumping her bag into his hands, which on instinct he took. She walked ahead, biting her bottom lip before humming a tune.

“Shampoo and milk.” She replied.

Percy blinked then shook his head, sighing. “Going out at night _just_ to get shampoo and milk…”

“You don’t know how important milk is in my family.”

Calypso started speed walking at this. Percy had to pick up the pace just to catch up to her. She laughed at him when she saw how agitated Percy had looked and her laughing made him laugh too. She was probably the first person in ages who’ve made him feel like a normal guy and that was enough to make him happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Jackson really developing romantic feelings for Calypso or is it just relief that she’s okay with him?  
> At least he’s made a new friend, right?  
> Too bad the next day isn’t going to be joyful as today (even though it wasn’t that fun for Percy).   
> Thanks for reading and waiting for this chapter to come out, guys! I really like the support! :D
> 
> Oops. I really need to start writing again  
> Damn, sorry. My exams are taking up too much of my time!


	5. He Who is Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

After Calypso’s chore of doing the shopping, the two went to sit outside Percy’s house. Percy revealed that he stole some chocolate bars from the convenience store, which Calypso nudged at him for doing. At first, Percy was worried she’d lecture him about stealing but instead, she took a bar and grinned. No one’s ever been cool with Percy doing stuff like that. Not even Luke, who was always about the “bad shit”.

“I don’t know how you’re capable of doing sly things like this.” Calypso said, giggling as she munched away.

“It comes naturally to me.”

It was an absolute, big fat, mega lie. The Stoll brothers were the ones who taught him. It took him weeks to finally steal without getting caught on camera or by people, but of course, he couldn’t say that to Calypso.

“What school do you go to?” Percy asked.

It was bothering him a little. She couldn’t have gone to his school or any of the other schools local to their neighbourhood because she didn’t know about him. Almost every student and teacher of every school were informed about his behaviour issues.

“I actually do not go to school. I’m home-schooled.” Calypso answered.

Her eyes looked sad, as if not going to school was a bad thing. She probably would have had fun if she did go, though. Percy saw that she would fit right into the pretty, smart and social groups. She even reminded him of someone.

“What do you learn at home?”

Percy didn’t want to say more to upset her but it was going in that direction anyway.

“My father hires tutors and private teachers to teach me subjects of his choosing. I learn very few subjects. He expects me to be a housewife. Labour is for men.”

Oh dear. He wanted to punch himself. Calypso looked depressed. Of course she would! Who in their right mind would want to have someone else choose their life for them? As if reading his mind, Calypso smiled and pat his knee as she stood up.

“It’s okay. I’ve learned to be accustomed to his strict rules. He treats my sisters and me fairly and equally.” She glanced over at her house before back at him. “And I must leave now.”

Percy waved her goodbye. He wanted her to stay some more, try to cheer her up the way a friend would, but she refused him. The last he saw of her that day was when she gave him a small wave before entering her house.

**~O.O~**

The next day, Paul left early for work. He left a note on the kitchen counter and a plate full of an English Breakfast. Percy, like always, took his time to get ready and get changed. He didn’t care if he’d get a tardy. School was stupid and it was a reason why people stressed out too much. He wished he was a billionaire so that he didn’t have to go to school or go to work. Every now and then, Percy would gaze out one of the windows, wondering if she’d come out and pop over to tell him to have fun at school. He knew he wouldn’t but just having someone like her say that would at least make him feel better.

The school bus arrived again, and again Percy didn’t take it. He walked to school, passing through the same neighbourhood and streets he did every day. Only, today things were different. A boy who looked fourteen but seemed too short for his height was standing in the middle of the road. His face looked blank with his shaggy black hair covering most of his forehead and eyebrows. Percy found it rather strange to see a little guy like him in the streets. Worse, he looked creepy too. He decided to just leave the boy to his own business.

“WATCH OUT!” Someone screamed.

Percy whipped his head back to the voice and it came from a truck driver. He was driving downhill and it seemed like he wasn’t- no, _couldn’t_ stop. The boy stood still, not fazed by this.

_“—don’t do anything foolish…okay?”_

“Sorry, dad.” He muttered before dashing to the boy and dragging him out from the road.

The truck zoomed past and Percy’s heart was beating fast. The rush of adrenaline made him excited but he had to contain it. A boy, much smaller than him, was here and it could damage his already bad reputation. He bit his lip and took a step back.

“Kid, you alri—“

“Nico!” Suddenly he was pushed to the side by a girl, much older than the boy. “Where have you been?”

Percy stared blankly at the girl. She was beautiful but not as much as Calypso. Her olive skin matched the younger boy, so he assumed they were siblings and Italian? Her hair was slightly lighter than the boy’s, and much longer. They did have the same eyes too; black. Percy knew many girls, seen many girls but those who he considered pretty, only reached the number of fingers on his hands.

“I can’t believe you’d leave the mansion without any supervision, whatsoever!”

Percy’s eyes widened at what the girl said to Nico. _Mansion? Supervision?_ Were these two rich? What in hell’s name would they be doing _here_?

“Who the hell are you?” Her words snapped him back to Earth.

“Is that the tone you use to thank someone for saving that kid?” Percy snapped at her.

There was always a catch to pretty girls, though this girl seemed to be a lot less rude.

Her eyes widened with sudden realisation, and although Percy saw the hesitation and regret in her eyes he knew better than to argue.

“Thank you.”

Percy nodded and began walking away when he felt a pair of hands grab onto his shirt.

“Wait.” He turned back to find the girl, looking away for a brief moment before looking back into his eyes. “The respectful thing we do for someone who saved a member of our family is to offer the saviour to come…to dinner.”

Percy knew that her pride was on the line and since she spoke in a posh, lady-like tone, it meant something pretty big. It’s not like he liked school anyway, and he was actually in a much better mood than yesterday. What harm could happen if he went to dinner?

**~O.O~**

To be honest, he should have declined. Just seeing the front gates of their mansion was already mocking his peasant life. Nico and his sister – whose called Bianca – were frickin’ loaded! They had a gate to protect them from zombies and another gate to protect them from thieves!

“Percy, was it?” Bianca asked, glancing at him.

Percy nodded, looking between the siblings. She talked for most of the ride and Nico hadn’t said a single word. Was he mute?

“Like I said before, I really appreciate you saving my brother, Nico. And, with regret, I want this to be a secret between the three of us.” Bianca said.

At these words, Percy narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”

Bianca sighed and opened the door, right after the car parked up in front of their home. She gestured to her surroundings before pointing back at him. Her eyes told him the answer. Her eyes were the same as everyone else’s; she looked down on him.

“Look at you, and look at us. The difference between us is our class. You’ll bring my family’s reputation down, Percy.”

This was definitely a different response to what he was usually used to. Bianca was talking about money, presentation and fame instead of who he actually was, but then again, she didn’t know him. She didn’t hear the rumours and lies people spread. However, that didn’t make it any better.

Percy scoffed. “It’s not like I wanted to be thanked by a family full of snobby rich kids.”

It wasn’t loud, but he knew she could hear him. Judging from her facial expression, she heard him. Judging from the sudden pause in Nico’s dull face, they both did. Good.

“Excuse me but we are _not_ snobby! We just have pride, unlike _you_ commoners!” Bianca shouted back, obviously offended.

Percy raised a brow, not liking that she insulted him. “Pride in what? I see no pride. You’re shameful. Bribing a person with dinner and forcing them not to say shit. Do I look like I’m poor? I don’t even know why I came. I’d rather spit on your food than eat it!”

There was silence for a minute. Percy looked at the two siblings who had similar expressions in their face. They were shocked and highly offended by the insult. It was actually pretty funny to see rich kids speechless.

“Th…” Nico, who hadn’t said a word was stuttering.

Percy couldn’t make out what he was saying but it was probably a rare sight. Bianca was shaking her head in what looked like fear and slight disappointment.

“Th…Thank…you.”

It wasn’t loud but it was audible and it made Percy less angry. The boy was obviously a selective mute because afterwards he ran straight for the mansion. Bianca had started opening the gate of hell through her mouth, stalking after him. It was really funny seeing rich kids like that, and with that thought, Percy went in after them. He was invited so he should be allowed in.

**~O.O~**

He should have left the moment he had noticed the way the mansion looked. He knew he should have. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have run into scary things. In front of him was a dog the size of a drawer, snarling and biting at him. The dog had black fur and eyes that were searching for your soul. The dog wasn’t the only creepy thing. The whole house looked like the dark ages, covered in blood red and black decorations. The floor was marble black and the furniture was vintage and dark. The room was so big and spacious that it made Percy feel so small and open. The lighting made every worse. He could see everything in sight, how the dog ruined a lot of the chairs and tables, how abnormal the statues were placed. Percy would have searched the whole place if only Bianca hadn’t dragged him with her, the moment he entered the mansion.

“Come with me. I need to inform you of certain matters.” She said in a stern voice. “I can’t believe it was you, though.”

Percy immediately got out of her grip but kept on following. He wanted to see more dark and weird things. Plus, Bianca was interesting him with those last few words.

After what seemed like hours, they arrived to an old yet shiny looking door. It was surprisingly more uplifting than the surrounding. Percy assumed that this was Bianca’s bedroom. It didn’t seem like Bianca had any other siblings – other than Nico – and the silent kid would in no way have a door room so modern. His assumptions were confirmed when the door smoothly opened. The interior was much, much brighter than the exterior. Though her carpet was red, cream covered the walls and stars claimed the ceiling. Percy could tell she grew up in this room; horizontal lines carved the wall, probably to check her height, a couple of drawings that were badly drawn, covered some parts of the lower walls and her windowsill had scribbles and doodles all over. All her things were normal for a teenage girl: a desk, patterned bedsheets, a drawer, a wardrobe and other things. This all made Percy feel…scared.

“Ugh. Nico!” Bianca cursed under her breath as she clutched a toy and card in her hand.

In that moment, Percy froze. He recognised that toy. It was a boat, a very small and similar one to his…

He wanted to puke.

Luckily he didn’t. Percy didn’t want to be fined with a ton of money for just puking on some rich kid’s carpet that probably costs $1000.

“What did you want to talk about snob?” That was his new nickname for her.

Bianca glared at the pet name. She obviously didn’t like it; however, she didn’t respond to it. Instead, she went over to her bed and looked at him, indicating for him to follow suit. With a sigh, Percy did. In doing so, Percy made himself comfortable, much to Bianca’s dismay.

“Well, Nico, my younger brother has…a mental health problem.”

Percy had no idea why she was telling him this. To be honest, he just wanted to leave and never see her again but being in _such_ a _rich_ and _honourable_ home, there was no way he could.

“He’s a selective mute,” Percy rolled his eyes by accident at this because he guessed it correctly. “And it’s the first time in years since he’s spoken to anyone. I don’t know why he chose to speak to you.”

Bianca looked at him directly in the eyes. “But, if this is the gods telling me that you might be able to help with his problems, I’m willing to plead- _beg_.”

Percy was taken aback by this. The snob wanted help just because she wanted her brother to be better? She was willing to put down her pride for Nico? She was taking a chance on him to…help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boy who is empty, I wonder who that person is referred to…Hmm.  
> And Jackson encountering the all-famous Di Angelo family? Bianca is actually asking for help?  
> Wait, why has Jackson not left yet? Could it be that…  
> It sucks for him, being dragged into something he didn’t want to be apart of. :P At least it wouldn’t get any worse than that…right?  
> Thank you for the patience, reviewers! I hope you liked this chapter, the previous chapters and the chapters to come!


	6. She Who Remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

“Please, I’ll pay you, I’ll get you into a higher education! Just please, please help my brother! Therapists couldn’t get him to speak, my father couldn’t get him to speak, even _I_ couldn’t get him to speak!” Bianca begged, much like a mad man.

She really was throwing her pride on the line.

He hated it. He hated how unexpected people were thrown at him now. He hated it when people begged. He hated helpless people. Percy grit his teeth before sighing. He hated it when people made him give in.

“Fine. I’ll do it. Just never beg again. Snobs like you are gross and horrible at doing so.” Percy then made a face.

Taken aback, his eyes widened at her smile. His heart stopped in one moment just to take in how beautiful she looked. A snob can look like an angel from just getting help? A snob can make _that_ kind of face? Why was it that she made him feel happy? How in the gods’ names, after many years that these past two days made him want to smile?

“I am genuinely happy that you’re helping.”

His heart was hurting. “Genuine” …Calypso was the same. Was it because of that? Was it because she was genuinely thankful?

Percy had to hide a blush, looking away and scratching his head. “Good. So, when’s dinner?”

Bianca looked at the clock hanging on her wall. “Well, we eat dinner at 6PM. You’re going to have to stay here for 10 hours?”

Percy stared at her like a mad man. Why did she make him come here now?

“ _Have_ to? Why the fuck am I here so early? You made me miss school for _this_?” Though he didn’t want to be at school, he had to point it out.

“Because…We didn’t want you running off. Sure, we could have given you an invitation but you wouldn’t have come!” Bianca argued back.

“And _how_ would you know _that_?” Percy glared at her.

He hated rich people. He always has and that would never change. All they cared about was money and fame. They stomped all over “commoners” like him and pitied people like him. Like hell did he need pity!

“Because I know you, Percy!” Bianca snapped, only then realising what she said before covering her mouth in shock.

A mirrored expression appeared on his face, all the colours draining from Percy’s tanned skin. She knew him? What the heck?! How could she? Hours ago she said bullcrap and treated him like dirt! This was just a way to get on his good side, wasn’t it? A way to trick his mind into thinking that they were somehow friends from the past or something—

“…It’s true, Percy. I didn’t…I didn’t want to tell you before. It’s true, being around you would bring down my family’s reputation but it isn’t just because of you being a commoner. Percy…We’ve met years ago…When your parents were still—“

“NO! NO, NO, NO!”

Everything was getting blurry. Percy’s mind was blacking out, yet he couldn’t faint. His face was growing red and his badly cut nails sunk into his skin, causing blood to break through his skin. Then, everything was slow and cold. He couldn’t hear anything but a loud buzzing noise. Not even noticing, he was already on his knees.

**~O.O~**

**2006, August 18 (11 years ago)**

_“Ha! I win!” Bianca squealed, jumping up and down._

_Her short and black hair was hitting the side of her cheeks as she showed her winning scissor hand._

_Percy stood miserable at his defeat with his small hands wide._

_“You always win, Bianca. I’m older than you so I’m supposed to win!” He huffed._

_Bianca stuck her tongue out._

_“You’re just a sore loser at rock-paper-scissors!” She then gasped when she saw her little brother crawl towards the fireplace. “Nico, no!”_

_Running to the small and adorable little kid, Bianca dragged him away, making a face at his weight. Percy saw and laughed._

_“You’re so weak, Bianca! Let me carry him!” Percy stood up straight, showing his non-existent muscles – the way his dad taught him – and strutted over to her._

_He then bent his legs in a sumo wrestler position before picking Nico up. For a 3-year-old he was pretty heavy. It was evident that Percy couldn’t carry him considering his face was red and he was breathing heavily._

_“And you said_ I _was the weak one, Aqua boy.” Bianca snickered, taking Nico from his hands._

 _Percy tried and failed to roll his eyes at her. Yes, he couldn’t roll his eyes. It made his head dizzy and his eyes go elsewhere. Bianca liked calling him Aqua boy just because his dad took them fishing and presented a great show. She called him “Aquaman” from the comics because he loved fish and water and was a really good fisher. He was claimed “Aqua boy” because he was the protégé and in her words “not good enough to be the_ real _Aqua person”._

_“Shush, Tigress!” Percy huffed back._

_Yeah. They were really into DC Comics and claimed being superheroes._

_“No! I’m Wonder Woman!” Bianca stamped her foot, which caused for imbalance._

_She toppled over her own foot and crashed onto the carpet, Nico falling on top of her. The impact of his weight on her caused for her to start crying, and hearing his older sister cry, the little brother mimicked, only to have a much louder volume._

_Percy rushed over immediately, bending down to help Nico off of her. A few other kids around his age did the same. It’s just, for some reason, they were a blur. Everything started to blur, almost like—_

_“Oh Bianca, Nico. It’s okay.”_

_Percy’s head spun around to look at the voice. It felt so familiar and—_

_Standing like a giant over him was none other than his mother. Normally, he would run to her and cry but she was different. Percy’s eyes widened and then every single mist in view cleared. In front of him wasn’t his mother anymore. It was that soulless body of what his mother left behind. Her bloody and empty body, almost like it was hanging on strings. Looming over her, a man stood. Percy wanted to run, move his legs but he couldn’t._

_“It’s it wonderful to see you again…Grandson?”_

**~O.O~**

Awaking from fear, Percy sat up. His body shook uncontrollably, as if something was possessing him. He couldn’t get it out of his mind. That man, that awfully merciless man…

“Percy?” The voice came from Bianca, who had taken care of him whilst he had fainted.

She looked worried all of a sudden and her hair wasn’t as neat as it was before. It seemed that he’s caused trouble again.

Taking a moment to regain his memories, Percy calmly returned to his normal self. He gazed at Bianca with a straight face, as if his panic hadn’t happened.

“What, snobby rich kid?” Percy snarled.

Yep. It was back. That dreamed made him remember who he was and what he was doing.

Bianca’s eyes turned from worry to anger in a flash. She stood up and crossed her arms. Truthfully, Percy didn’t want to upset her but when he thought back to their family tree, Hades Di Angelo. He was another adopted son of the famous Olympus heritage. The almighty father had already killed two of his children, Hades would be next if Percy brought attention to him. He didn’t want that.

“Well, I’m _sorry_ for trying to look after you. I hauled you in here, taking a good 5-10 minutes to do so. Do you realise how _heavy_ you are?” Bianca huffed.

Percy wanted to smile, recalling of her rowdy behaviour. He couldn’t believe he’d forget such a good friend like her. They weren’t really cousins since the brothers of Olympus never were blood-related but she did feel like family to him. More like a spoilt younger sister.

“Maybe you’re just weak?” Percy pointed out and unfortunately let a smile slip from his lips.

 _Crap. No. Not again. Why am I opening myself up to another person, let alone another girl?_ Percy had to look away, biting his lip and mentally punching himself. He hoped that Bianca didn’t see it.

“You’ve been knocked out for a good couple of hours, you know.” Bianca said.

She was seated calmly on a chair, looking at the clock. It seemed that she didn’t see his smile. Thank god.

“Couple of…hours—wait, that’s long! Why didn’t you wake me up?” Percy shouted.

He wanted to slap her, scream at her, punch her. If she woke him up…If she did that then he wouldn’t have had to remember that terrible man nor the image of his deceased mother. However, he couldn’t. She wouldn’t have known. Of course she wouldn’t have known. No one knew of his descriptive and morbid trauma. No one was able to share the pain with him. No one who tried had stayed.

Bianca shrugged. “You were at peace…Well, until you woke up.”

Then she stood up and walked to the door, leaning against it. “And because of your moaning, I’ve ordered the maids to make dinner early. We’re eating in 4 hours. Lounge around in here if you want. Just don’t leave unless you know where you’re going, which I doubt.”

After saying that, she was gone. She reminded me of a cat for some reason. Cat Woman. She could be Cat Woman. Wait a minute. Four hours…That means she watched him sleep for around five hours? That was creepy.

Something began tickling his back, which made him jump. One thing that no one knew about him: Percy Jackson was VERY ticklish. He went to scoop up the vibrating object, only finding that it was his mobile phone. Nowadays, people are talking about the new iPhone 7 or 10 Plus. The phone he had was a Nokia. Yup, you guessed it. The brick phone that you can play snake on. He didn’t really use it anyway and in times of crisis, he could rely on it to not run out of battery and just call up Paul to bail him out of jail. Oops. He’s never been to jail but that’s what he’d do.

There wasn’t a name, just the number on the phone, which was weird. Although Percy only had Paul in his contacts, someone else he didn’t give his number to, got a hold of it. It seemed highly suspicious but Percy picked it up anyway. It’s not like they would threaten him or anything. He had nothing to lose.

“Who’s this?” Percy asked in a tough and lower voice.

There was no response on the other line for a minute. Percy might have thought he lost signal or the call ended until a familiar voice spoke.

“Oh, I’m sorry! This is Calypso. I was thought you were a friend of mine. I got this phone number from his step-father. It was my mistake for—“

“Calypso?” Percy spoke in his actual voice, quite shocked.

“Oh, Percy! Thank the gods!” The gods? Wasn’t there only one god? “I thought you were kidnapped or something!”

Percy shook his head to himself, realising afterward that she couldn’t see. “No. Just security measures—but why are you calling me?”

He could somehow tell she was shifting from one foot to the other as she spoke. “Mr Blofis asked me where you were since you weren’t at school…He gave me your number because he thought you wouldn’t pick up the phone…”

That was true. Percy never answered the phone to Paul until it was really late at night and he needed to be picked up.

“Percy, where are you—“

“Listen, Caly. It means a lot to me that you’re worried but I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m just at a friend’s house.”

He then hung up the phone, cursing at himself. Why did he use the term “friend”? He’s not used that word in years and now, why he’s finally gotten control of his mask, it was breaking.

“Damn it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry if this story is progressing very slowly. I do intend to add a lot of characters and develop them to mean something to Harsh Words. I want it to link with the Percy Jackson series yet make a very strange twist that relates to a lot of people.   
> I’ve been trying to at least publish a chapter each month or maybe two chapters a month because I know that this fanfic will have a lot of chapters.   
> Just so that I can make it clear for you guys, this is indeed a Percabeth story but you know…I wanna make it more realistic. I don’t want it to be easy for the two and I want to focus more on the plot too. There will be a lot of fluff between the two. Do not worry!


	7. He Who Couldn't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

“Why are you still in those ridiculous clothes, Percy?”

So it’s been 3 hours. Percy was playing in their massive backyard, climbing trees and getting himself muddy. Apparently he was supposed to have gotten ready at 2, which he didn’t know since she never told him. She said that he shouldn’t have known like it was common sense. Now she was fussing over getting him a suit and saying “there isn’t enough time”. Please. It would have probably taken him 5 minutes tops to get ready.

“Make-up! You need make-up!” Bianca yelled, calling for a maid to come in.

Percy made a face and stood up from the chair he was sitting on. Like hell was he going to wear girl powder and girl pencil marks.

“Snob. Snob, stop. I ain’t wearing any ugly ass make-up to _dinner_ or even _ever_.”

Bianca was looking at him like he was insane. She was already dressed in a long and frilly black dress and black eye liner and mascara. She had dark red lipstick on and a light blush to coat her cheeks. What in the world was she so dressed up for? It’s not like this dinner was important, right? Only he was going to attend- wait. He was going to attend. He…was going to…family…dinner…PARENTS!

Percy’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! I don’t want to meet your family, snob! We are not in that type of relationship—“

“Percy.”

“I will not dress up for your snobby family—“

“Percy.”

“You’re insane to even think—“

“PERCY!” Bianca shouted.

At this, he silenced himself and looked at her. She had an irritated expression and he saw a pulsing vein on her forehead wanting to break free. Bianca was very scary when annoyed.

She let out a sigh. “Honestly, Percy. I worry for you. We dress up every day for dinner because our father is strict about stuff like this, okay? It hasn’t changed and you being here certainly isn’t a reason. Plus,” Her face scrunched up in distaste. “I would never date you.”

80% of Percy relaxed with delight, lucky she said that. However, he found that 20% was aching. He didn’t know why but he got the feeling that maybe, just maybe, he wanted her not to say such a cruel thing.

“Good. You’re too snobby and ugly for me to date too.” Percy stuck his tongue out, which got Bianca to growl.

No one said anything after that. The two just glared at each other, waiting to see who’d surrender first. Seems like Percy had won when Bianca stormed out of the room. Although winning seemed to be a good thing, he felt like he should apologise, just because he saw the look in her eyes before she left.

Percy sighed and gave in when a maid came. Just this once was he going to follow someone else’s orders. It’s the least he could do. He owed her his happiness in the past. He owed her for looking after him earlier.

**~O.O~**

After all the make-up and getting on a tailored suit, Percy began adventuring his uncle’s mansion. Bianca told him not to but he couldn’t resist. He’s always loved adventuring and just trying to remember the good memories he shared with Bianca and Nico here made him want to disobey her even more.

He remembered the time when he and Nico raced-crawled from one end of the hall to the other. He remembered jumping from a window to the floor, a pillow case wrapped around his neck and a plastic bag with holes on his face. He remembered how he and Bianca used to become superheroes and rescue Nico from the Di Angelo’s really scary dog. They were good memories. He still wished he could remake those memories but that part of him was nothing more than a distant memory he will never get again.

Down the hall, Percy could make out a shadow on the ground. It was small and there was a cowlick at the side of the hair. He turned the corner and found Nico, standing in front of a shrine? He didn’t know who the person was but he heard Nico’s murmurs; he was speaking to someone who’s dead.

“What are you doing?” Percy asked, which Nico jumped up at.

The little boy scrambled back up against the wall, his obsidian eyes wide with fear and pale skin turning a shade whiter to add more colour to the wall. Instead of just looking over Nico, Percy took in his appearance, trying to figure out what the boy still had when he was a kid. First was the cowlick hair. No matter how many times Percy and Bianca tried to get the chunk of hair down, it always puts up a fight. Baby Nico was much more tan – believe it or not – but Percy saw the structure of his face. There was still some fat in his cheeks and his nose was still small. Nico got skinny though, skinnier than he was as a kid. He was skinnier than Percy! There were bags and a dark shade under his eyes that suggested that he didn’t sleep much.

He knew Nico wouldn’t answer but the boy gazed over at the shrine, which Percy followed. Then, it all connected. In a wooden frame, behind small lavender smelling candles, was a photo of a woman. To be more specific, this woman was their mom. She looked so much like an older version of Bianca; beautiful, lady-like yet also someone who can take jokes. In fact, Percy remembered once where he used to give her hugs before leaving their mansion and eat cookies that she made – blue and delicious, like the way his mother made it.

“Your mom…passed away?” Percy couldn’t process his words.

Auntie Maria – their mother – was one of the nicest people he met. He loved her company and she was really loving towards him. She was like his second mom. He couldn’t believe that she would have died. Maybe she had cancer or some type of disease or even killed in a freak accident.

“Murdered.”

Percy turned his head towards Nico, very slowly. “Murdered”? Did he just say murdered? Who could have killed her?

“By who?” Percy dared to asked.

Though he knew he’d not get an answer. Nico just looked away. Percy thought he caught a glimpse of sadness in the boy’s expression but it seemed like an illusion because Nico looked back at him with a straight face. Still, he said nothing as he turned away, walking down the hall and to his room.

_“I’m genuinely happy that you’re helping.”_

Bianca’s words ran through his mind, which for some reason made him blush. Okay, she was on his mind but only because he remembered that he should help with her brother. Right, his new job that he got in no shorter time than a couple of hours. He was surprised that he didn’t have to sign a contract.

“Hey, kid! Wait up!” He said, jogging to Nico’s door.

When he got there, Nico was already putting on his black blazer over a white shirt that almost was as pale as him. There was a strained look on his face as he pulled on the sleeves. Maybe he didn’t want Bianca to fuss over him like she did to Percy. Maybe, but Percy didn’t need to find out.

Percy looked around the room. It was covered in darkness, apart from the light shining down through the window. Some of the wallpaper was falling off and a couple of toys and cards were scrambled on the floor. On Nico’s bed lay a picture of his mom, smiling and holding infant Nico in her arms. Percy was about to reach out for it when—

“Stop.” Nico’s voice cracked.

With hesitation, Percy turned his gaze to the boy. Nico stood still with wide eyes that looked like they were staring into his soul. Nico was fidgeting, his fingers twitching at his side and his lips trembling.

“Why me?” Percy asked. “Why are you only speaking to me?”

Not even saying another word, Nico fixed his tie and walked out of his room. Percy tried to follow him out but the kid was already gone. He ran, Percy bet. He ran so that he didn’t have to answer the question.

With a sigh, he went to meet up with Bianca.

**~O.O~**

“I can’t believe it.” Bianca muttered as Percy followed her.

She was stalking down the hallway, pulling her dress up to walk properly. Percy saw a bit of pale skin on her legs. Guess she wasn’t the type to wear dresses outside. Bianca was moody and it didn’t sound good. She said something about her “lousy step-mother” being absent. Percy didn’t even know that Uncle Hades re-married.

“Of all the days…” She kept on going.

Percy just left it. He didn’t know the her right now but back when they were young, you never should try to calm down angry Bianca, unless it was adults. Adults were always the solution.

 _And the problem_.

Upon entering the dining room, Percy glanced up at the golden chandelier. It was massive and was probably worth more than his life. The antiques and statues that were placed by the dark and black walls left shadows on the ground. The table was black too with silverware and cloth. Percy didn’t understand how one could be comfortable eating in such a dark place. He sat down at the table, opposite Nico.

 _At least the chairs have cushions_.

Nico wouldn’t look him in the eye. Guess Percy should apologise afterwards. After all, he’s being paid to basically be nice to Nico. Bianca sat down next to him, sighing as she placed her hands on the table. Percy noticed that there were three other chairs; two chairs on each end of the table and a chair next to Nico. He assumed that Uncle Hades and his wife sat opposite each other but he was curious as to who was going to sit next to Nico.

Just as he thought that, a girl who looked about the same age as Nico, walked into the room. She had curly brown hair that was pulled back into a bun, untameable strands curling to her ears and cheeks. Her eyes were gold, matching with the chandelier above them, over her cocoa brown skin. She didn’t look anything like the pale kids. Maybe she was Nico’s friend—

“Excuse my tardiness, family…oh.” She said, realising that Percy was in the room.

Okay, so maybe she was a step-sister? Percy didn’t know and he didn’t question. He could see small resemblances but not much. Percy knew for a fact that Uncle Hades’ children don’t take their pretty looks from him.

“It’s okay, Hazel. Persephone isn’t coming and father’s running late. This is Percy, by the way. He’ll be joining us thrice a week.” Bianca informed Hazel. “And Percy, this is Hazel Levesque,”

Oh, they weren’t family?

“She’s my half-sister but Nico and I like to exclude the “half”. Her mother passed away a couple of years ago and she’s been living with us since.”

Okay, they were family. It was definitely confirmed.

Hazel bowed to Percy. _Ugh, rich people._ He thought.

“It’s a pleasure to be meeting you. My siblings need a friend in their life.” She said.

Percy couldn’t help but laugh at Bianca’s glaring. Hazel was one funny kid.

“Yeah, I noticed.” He replied, smirking at a red faced Bianca.

Then, the double doors before Percy opened and there revealed a slightly taller looking man. He was thinner than the average male and a lot paler but he held himself up with pride. It was Uncle Hades for sure. He strode across the room to his seat, settling himself down. At this point, Hazel had already gotten herself sat on her chair.

“Now, children…Time to feast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! Hades’ children all in one scene with Hades!   
> Wonder how Hades himself will react to Percy’s appearance.  
> I can’t believe that Percy’s missed school for this. Smh.   
> Oh well, we’ll see how Annabeth and Luke will react when he comes back…maybe with some friends of his…  
> But first, we have to see how well the dinner went first, right?  
> Thank you for waiting yet again! I hope you’ve enjoyed the story so far!


	8. She Who Cried

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

The moment that Uncle Hades sat down at the table, the maids and servants rushed in to deliver food. They brought a big feast; the table was filled with rich and somewhat clean food unlike the messily made meals Percy used to have with Paul. Everything on the plate was neat and looked like a master chef made it, which probably was the case since this was a rich place.

Bianca was staring at her father, who had not said a word after sitting down. It seems like he hadn’t noticed Percy’s appearance but then again, Uncle Hades wasn’t one for curiosity or was he the sociable type. With a glance around at the three siblings, Percy saw them picking up their knives and forks, carefully choosing the right ones. Rich people usually had a lot of cutlery and thank god that Bianca was nice enough to show him the knife and fork he would use to eat.

Eating in silence wasn’t what Percy liked. Usually Paul would make small talk or Percy would just listen to music. Being a child with ADHD made him a little uneasy at the silence. If he was right, Nico would have noticed since the kid had been slyly trying to glance at him. Bianca was too into eating her broccoli. Literally, she had more of a portion of broccoli than chicken on her plate. Was she a vegetarian? Hazel was taking small sips of her sparkling water – he didn’t even know that sparkling water was different to normal water – and taking small bites of her chicken, which she cut up with her cutlery from the bone. It took all of Percy’s strength to not grab at his chicken bone and tear the meat off it.

“So, Perseus…” The voice was from Uncle Hades and it made him stiffen.

Bianca had stopped nomming on her broccoli and sweetcorn to stare at her father whilst the other siblings kept on eating until Uncle Hades glanced at them to stop. It seemed that this was somewhat important since everyone, apart from Percy, had looked at him.

“What are you doing at my home?” Uncle Hades’ voice was hard and full of wonder.

Percy had to quickly swallow his food since it was rude to talk whilst eating. Bianca looked like she wanted to stop him but it was too late. Soon Percy had started hiccupping.

“Well, I had - _hic_ \- crossed paths with your - _hic_ \- son and daughter and stu - _hic-_ ff had happened and now I’m - _hic_ \- here.” Percy tried to explain, biting his lip.

For the first time in years, he felt scared. Uncle Hades was a man who made many fear him. Percy didn’t want to be a victim since the man looked capable of killing him and hiding his body from the law to not be criminal.

Uncle Hades raised a brow and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Bianca bite her lip to stifle a laugh. She was going to get it when they leave.

“I see. It’s a shame that my daughter did not inform me of such matters.” He looked towards Bianca, who looked down at her food. “Please, boy. Have whatever you like today. It’s been years since I’ve seen your face and I do owe your father the hospitality towards you.”

After that, silence took over. Uncle Hades went back to eating and so did everyone else. Nico finished first and excused himself in a simple nod. Hazel went after him, finishing her meal and curtseying towards her dad. Percy didn’t have an appetite after the talk so Uncle Hades went next, bidding them goodbye. Bianca had already finished but stayed until Percy told her he couldn’t eat anymore.

“The food was so-so.” Percy muttered as if it was a compliment.

They were in Bianca’s room since it was the only place Percy felt that he could fill better in. He sat on her bed with crossed legs, looking at Bianca as she was brushing her hair by the mirror. It was then that Percy noticed how beautifully silky her hair was, shinning dark brown that made his heart flutter for a millisecond.

It was weird, this feeling. It was unfamiliar yet comforting. This made him remember his time with Calypso and how she made him happy. But Calypso was a different case. She was special and Bianca was just a distant relative.

“Considering you probably live in a common home, I doubt it was “so-so”, Percy. At least be truthful to me.” Bianca said.

She had put her comb down, looking at him in the mirror with her black eyes. The Di Angelos really did resemble each other, but Bianca’s were different. Her eyes were full of life and hope, and a tinge of independence. He liked independent girls— no. Not a good way of thinking.

“Being honest to someone I only just met is ridiculous and stupid.” Percy muttered.

“But I’m not a stranger, am I? We’ve known each other since we were young. For Hades’ sake, you didn’t even think of me as dangerous when I offered you to come here.” Bianca replied.

It was weird. Bianca was getting angry at him for not trusting her. In all Percy’s years of being alone, people either tried and give up or just leave it alone. She was the first to actually care for his trust and her tone sounded like she was offended. Why?

“…Why? Why are you getting so mad about this? It’s been years since we’ve seen each other. I don’t even know you anymore!” Percy shouted, not liking the pain in his chest.

Bianca stood up, turning around to him with burning eyes. Suddenly, Percy felt small and different. He wasn’t the Percy he was now, the mean and alone guy with no friends; he was the Percy from when he was a child, the one who loved everyone and everything. He was the Percy that was always terrified at upsetting or getting Bianca angry.

“Uh…B-Bianca?” Percy shuffled back on the bed.

In response, Bianca just walked up to him with clenched fists. As if it was like a distant dream, Percy thought about the time they went to his villa.

_“Bianca…I’m sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Percy muttered, holding his hands together._

_Bianca was sniffling, wiping away tears. Percy knew what came next. Bianca was always like it. She would cry then get angry and hit him. His mom told him that she had Uncle Hades’ anger issues and Percy always found that it was the only excuse. His father told him too that because he was the boy, it was his duty to stop making her cry and angry._

_“I hate you!” Bianca cried out, hitting his shoulder._

_For a child girl, she was really strong and it made him wince. Her words did hurt, like always but he knew better. He knew that she was just angry so he always hugged her like he did now._

_“I’m sorry, Bianca. You’re my best friend. Please don’t cry. Please don’t get angry.” Percy whispered, rubbing her back._

_Bianca had eventually stopped hitting him and returned the hug, hiding her face into his now soggy t-shirt._

_“I don’t want to be your best friend.” She replied._

Waking from his daze, he found himself against the headboard with Bianca in front of him, sitting and covering her legs with her duvet. He saw her nose being red and her eyes being glassy. Her fists were still clenched and it pained him. Bianca was still the same Bianca from before. The same, easy-to-cry and innocent girl. Which is why, from his father’s wish, he’ll be the same Percy who comforted her.

“I want you to trust me, Percy. I know, I know. It’s been too long to count for that we’ve been a part but…nothing’s changed.” Bianca told him.

Suddenly, he felt time go slow as he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. Eyes of shock and familiarity as he looked down at her. He felt like crying too but he couldn’t. He didn’t show weakness, especially if Bianca needed someone who was strong. She was his best friend. He remembered that.

“Bianca…Please give me time—“

“I can’t wait anymore, Percy! I waited for a year…I waited for nine more years after that, Percy. You didn’t know, did you? You would have thought it was stupid anyways but it’s real. It’s different.” Bianca gripped his shirt as she said this. “I don’t want to wait for anything from you anymore.”

Why? Why was she making all this his fault? How can she just turn his life into guilt for despairing hers? But if he hadn’t met her today, he wouldn’t have been better.

“Percy, I like you. I always have. Ever since we were five and I never stopped. Not even once did I consider dating anyone else because I knew you’d come back.” Bianca let out a small sob.

Then, it all sank into him. He wanted to get angry, he wanted to tell her “no” but he couldn’t shake the feeling. He couldn’t dismiss the memories and joy. She didn’t give up on him like anyone else, she still thought about him and after his rudeness and change, she still wanted him. He didn’t like it at all. Especially after he built everything up to save himself the misery, two amazing girl came into his life.

“Please say something.” Bianca said.

Saying things won’t stop her from crying, especially if it came from his mouth. He’d probably say something he didn’t mean or she’d misunderstand. So, taking on the quote of a famous man, _“action speaks louder than words”_ , Percy wiped her tears away and kissed her cheek.

It wasn’t anything big but for Bianca and Percy, it meant more than just a kiss on the check. It meant acceptance and trust because it was their sign. It was their little secret code for trust. It was the signal that told her his feelings too. That it was okay, and it was. So Bianca’s cried again but Percy didn’t stop her. Tears of relief were always good.

**~O.O~**

It was late by the time Percy had gotten home. Of course he walked. He didn’t want to take a ride because he wanted to know the way himself. Plus, it gave him time to think and to rest. He missed a day of school to go apply to help Nico and to finally patch things up with Bianca. But…he still couldn’t get the fact that he kissed her cheek out of his mind.

“Goddamn it!” Percy shouted out loud and kicked a bin.

He then took a step back in fear as a cat hissed at him. Percy was scared of cats. It was a trauma he’s had for years. He loved dogs but hated cats, mainly because they didn’t like him.

Walking fast, Percy made it back in half an hour. His legs didn’t ache. He built himself well for a long time. He always went swimming at a local pool and that kept his body fit. He’s never stopped swimming, even after the past. It was the only thing that held him close to his parents and he’ll never stop.

When he got home, he found Paul sleeping on the couch with two mugs. One was full of hot chocolate and the other was empty. There were sandwiches on the table. Paul must have waited for him to come back, like he always did when Percy wandered off. Sometimes it made him feel like an idiot but it was what he had to do. No regrets and no refunds. But he could be nice every once in a while…only when Paul wasn’t conscious. He went up to his room and got a blanket to bring down for Paul. He ate a sandwich and took the mugs to wash.

As long as Paul didn’t see him be nice, it was okay. As long as no one apart from Calypso and Bianca saw. It was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah…You get where I’m going with this, right? :3  
> It’s Percy x Bianca, only because…well, haven’t you ever wondered? I hope I didn’t put up a death flag for the poor girl. She needs a happy ending…  
> NOW. For what you’ve all been waiting for! The next chapter is finally the interaction between Percy and Annabeth. FINALLY! The Percabeth can again begin…but with interference…maybe?  
> And yes, people. I am a major fan of Percabeth but also, I like harems and shipping Percy with everyone. xD  
> I hope you liked this chapter, guys!


	9. He Who Resisted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

The following day, Percy woke up with a massive headache and he didn’t know why, but he immediately got up and took some aspirin then got ready and changed. It was 6 AM and Paul would have left for work already however when Percy got downstairs, he heard voices.

“Percy’s back so there’s no need to call the police.” That was Paul’s voice, sounding very tired.

“Let me go and check if he’s alright—“ The voice said in a masculine tone.

“No, it’s okay.” Paul replied sternly.

Percy poked his head out and saw that Paul was talking to a man in a trench coat. Knowing the 21st century, it looked kind of eerie. Percy wanted to run down the stairs and close it but the man was looking for him so he didn’t dare.

“Now, can you please leave?” Paul asked – more like forced.

He closed the door before the man could even reply and sighed. Percy then made his appearance and stared down at his foster father. Paul saw him and looked back up with his kind brown eyes that bore with stress. Grey hairs sparked up from his skull and he was still in his sleeping gown.

“Percy, good morning.” Paul said with a smile.

It was that smile that always got to Percy, the one that made his stomach ache and his heart filled with guilt. He was the one that made Paul become so worried and he knew he should have called or left a text to tell the man who took him in where he was and when he was coming back.

“Paul…” Percy started but Paul raised his hand.

“No, it’s okay. I got a phone call today from a very, very wealthy family.” Paul looked impressed. “I didn’t know you were such a hero, Percy.”

With that, Paul went into the kitchen to make breakfast, leaving Percy speechless. Did Bianca call his dad? Did she sugar coat whatever she said because Paul was seeing him a different light? This whole new vibe made him very uncomfortable. Percy quickly followed after to find that Paul had already made them waffles. He stood in awe of the outcome and the lovely smell.

“Hurry up and eat, son. School starts soon.” Paul said, smiling.

Yep, Percy did not like this at all. He just gave Paul a mean look and sat down, stuffing the waffles down his throat though savouring it. Once he finished eating, he got his stuff and left the house, muttering curses about not liking the change in atmosphere of the house.

**~O.O~**

Thank god the school didn’t change. People were still scared of him, freshmen kept running away and people were still spreading rumours about how horrible he was. He even heard a few new rumours about reasons why Percy didn’t go to school yesterday. Apparently he was too caught up beating a gang up that he didn’t bother going to school. Others said that he _became_ the gang leader and such. What he did yesterday was thankfully a secret kept by him and the Di Angelo family. Percy would have smiled until he met with a familiar face.

“Well, if it isn’t Percy Blofis.” Luke sniggered, saying the name as if it taunt Percy.

Of course everyone knew that Percy hated the name Blofis and would punch anyone’s eye out if they used his birth name so they just called him Percy. But Luke was different. Luke wanted to piss him off to drive more attention to the blonde boy, which he got.

“What do you want, asshole?” Percy spat.

“Calm down. We’re all friends here.” Luke obviously didn’t mean what he just said.

Percy scoffed and took a step forward, looking Luke in the eyes. “Since when?”

With a shove, Percy was pushed back, shocked at Luke’s sudden confidence. This was not like the scared boy that Percy knew over the year. Luke used to get frightened, ever since Percy beat him up last summer. What happened yesterday to make Luke so much more confident?

“Just listen here, _Jackson_ , you follow under my rules.” Luke said.

Percy then straightened his back and narrowed his eyes into Luke’s blue ones with the same striking dominance.

“Oh yeah, and what if I don’t? You want me to show everyone who’s the strongest again? You want to be embarrassed?”

In a flash, Percy was shoved up against a locker, but not by Luke. Ethan, the smaller and wimpier boy, was now strong and able to make even Percy tremble. His emotionless eyes filled with fire was engulfed with anger. His grip on Percy’s collar shirt seemed to tighten and his breathing was becoming quick.

“Embarrass Luke and I’ll crack that neck of yours.” Ethan whispered in a growl.

But Percy didn’t let that threat get to him. With his fist, he whacked Ethan’s face, making the boy slam his skull against the locker and leaving a dent. It was a shame for the kid who had that locker. Usually Ethan would have apologised or fainted but he unexpectedly came back for a swing of the action. This time, Percy was prepared and dodged the hit, kneeing Ethan in the stomach. The boy groaned in pain but Percy still received a punch.

Luke had somehow in between joined the fight, swinging a punch at Percy’s jaw. In return, Percy elbowed him in the cheekbone, kicking Ethan’s face, who was crawling on the floor. The fight became hellish as Luke’s cronies joined in, kicking and punching Percy in every possible place. Soon, Percy was beginning to lose and fall but he kept his ground. He had knocked out the surprisingly strong Ethan and two other boys, leaving Luke and another kid standing – Chris Rodriguez.

By the time the teachers came and pulled them away, Percy gained a black eye with bruises on all limbs and cheeks. Blood was streaming down from his broken nose and bleeding gums. Luke and the other kids were much worse, though.

Inside, Percy did feel guilty for hurting them but he was proud of himself. He fended himself off of five guys, ones considered to be the next scariest people in the whole school. The proudness faded when he was faced with Paul and Mr. D in the head teacher’s office.

“Percy, take a seat.” Mr. D said with a growl.

Obeying the head teacher, he sat down and bit his lip. Percy knew he was in big trouble, which didn’t bother him much but it was rare for Mr. D to bring Paul in. Was the fight really bad? Percy didn’t know, he just looked at the head teacher, holding an ice bag to his face.

“Now, recording all your…delinquent behaviour from last year to the start of this year, I should have expelled you long ago. However, your father had convinced me not to for many of them. Tell me, Percy, do you want to be expelled?” Mr. D asked.

Percy bit his lip. He’s been to many schools before and all of them were the same old and boring. This was the only school that had decent teachers or fun people or scared people. He’s built up a reputation for himself last year and that took long. Of course he wouldn’t want to leave!

Percy wanted to say yes but he only nodded. He now knew how scary grownups were and that it was hard for kids like him to talk down on them. They built up this superior atmosphere and everything they say would go their way.

“Well, I’m giving you one more chance, Percy. If you are to even _argue_ with a teacher or student, you might as well say goodbye to this school.”

With that, Mr. D shooed us out. The waiting room outside had only two people: Luke and Ethan. Percy tried to smirk at his accomplishment but winced at the pain. Paul was standing next to him, sighing and shaking his head. He hadn’t said a word, which was not something Paul would do. This meant he was disappointed, especially after the good morning.

“Get to your lesson, Percy.” He said before leaving for the staff room.

Percy nodded but he didn’t leave until he got to say one more word to Luke and Ethan.

“You shouldn’t have messed with me. You know you can’t win in a fight against me.” Percy said, letting out a small laugh before walking.

**~O.O~**

The first lesson was History and the teacher was called Mr. Sue, which was kind of ironic because all he talked about was that lawyers shouldn’t exist. No one’s going to be saving _him_ when he wants to sue.

The topic the top class was learning was on the Cold War; Percy knew nothing of the past. He didn’t even know when the first world war started! Mr. Sue was now walking around with a small notebook, which he probably wrote in to plan out the lessons, in hand talking about the war between the Soviet Union and the US.

It was a boring lesson and Percy was about to fall asleep until he caught Annabeth staring at him. It wasn’t really a stare, more like a glare and it was one vicious one too. They hadn’t really talked about what happened the day of the “fire”. They had an argument and as far as Percy’s known, he won it. Annabeth knew that too, judging from her facial expression to his drowsy stare.

“…and although this might be late, you are all to do an assignment! It will be due next week. This is more like a homework and because I only have classes with you twice a week, I expect you and your partner to work after school and on the weekend.” Mr. Sue informed.

This earned a lot of groaning. Percy didn’t like the idea too. He would probably have to work and partner up with a shitty person.

“Now, I’ll be picking your partner in _alphabetically order_.” Mr. Sue said slowly, which earned more groans.

“Percy Blofis and Annabeth Chase.” Was the first thing he said.

Percy rose to his feet, furious. “I. Am. Not. A. Blofis!”

“However, on the school system, your surname is Blofis and I’m sorry Percy but you’re going to have to deal with it. You should be thankful too. Annabeth is at the top of her classes and judging by your previous grades, she’ll help you.” Mr. Sue was very stern about this.

What he said had shut Percy up. However, it did not shut Annabeth up. She had risen her hand in a sensible and polite way but was rejected.

“I will not be taking questions on partners. Whomever is chosen will be your partner. No excuses.”

Then, Mr. Sue carried on listing the partners and when he finished, he began to discuss the assignment.

“You and your partner must create some kind of artistic piece on the Cold War. Whether it be the battlefield or the political view, it is up to you. You may write a poem, a story, perform your piece or create a picture or poster. All your work will be presented today next week.” Mr. Sue then looked down at his watch. “You have 45 minutes of this lesson to research and plan.”

After he said that, almost every stood up and rushed to their partners to discuss of the work. Percy and Annabeth remained in their seats. Percy wasn’t going to work with Annabeth. It was a bunch of crap and he didn’t care if he got a bad grade on it.

Annabeth was the one to make a move. She dragged her table in next to his and sat down, bringing up a notebook full of information on the Cold War. It was colour coordinated with specific words highlighted in yellow or blue. She must have paid attention in class because Percy skimmed over everything and she covered at least 90% of what the Cold War was.

“You don’t like me and I don’t like you but I am _not_ going to fail this class because of something trivial such as our loathe for each other.” Annabeth said and when Percy didn’t respond, she slapped him upside the head. “For the love of god, Percy! At least try!”

Though Percy didn’t know; whether to resist the temptation to help or to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am awfully sorry to have be on hiatus for 19+ days! I have no excuses but I will try to get in another chapter for this month!  
> There will be a lot of violence in the coming chapters and yes, our main character with face tough decisions but not to worry! I will bring up more and more fluffiness for ships!   
> Which do you like so far?   
> Percy x Annabeth  
> Percy x Bianca  
> Percy x Calypso  
> Percy x Nico  
> I’d love to know your views and thoughts on what my fanfiction is like so far!   
> Hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter!


	10. She Who Tried

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

Annabeth stared at him, waiting patiently for an answer or any sort of sign that he’d contribute. However, he didn’t respond yet again and avoided eye contact with her. It had always been like this with Percy, Annabeth had noticed. Though she’s never been partners with him before, she’s heard that Percy always left the group work to the others, usually ending with them to just about pass. There was no reason apart from him being a delinquent.

Until the other day, Annabeth was like everyone else, just assuming Percy was attention-seeking but when Percy had slipped up and won in a debate against her, it gave her proof that something was up. Even if he doesn’t let it show, Annabeth was sure that he was letting out less than keeping in and she was going to find out what.

“I’m not helping you out.” Percy said finally and got up, leaving class early.

Mr. Sue shouted at him but didn’t report it to the principal. That was the teacher’s weakness. He was too kind to do that, even though he does seem strict. After Percy’s response, Annabeth wasn’t going to give up. She was going to _make_ Percy participate, even if she has to go to his house…

**~O.O~**

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re _partners_ with _Blofis_?” Luke asked, almost at a shouting level.

Annabeth winced at the surname. Percy had been telling her constantly last year that he was a Jackson and that got to her. Her boyfriend, Luke Castellan, had aftermath injuries: two black eyes, bruises on the cheeks, a broken nose and a cut on his lip. He was holding an ice pack where the bruises were.

Annabeth had always disapproved of the violent fights that Luke got into, mainly because he always came back with injuries. If her mother had an insight on her high school relationships, she would have looked at her in shame. Frankly, Annabeth was disappointed in herself too but couldn’t bring herself to do anything about it. Luke was her first love.

“Yeah. It’s not a big deal. I can do better on my own.” Annabeth said, her bag slung over her shoulder.

“Damn right you’re doing it on your own! That good-for-nothing brat’s gonna get beat up if he touches you.” Luke muttered.

Surely Luke would have been the one getting beaten again but being his girlfriend, she didn’t want to say anything. To be honest, Annabeth was quite scared he’d do something. Luke didn’t seem the type to hurt people but then again, Percy seemed to be the cause of the fire the other day, but the next day there was proof that he hadn’t started it.

“Are you going to help with my studies today, babe?” Luke asked, now holding her hand.

Sometimes doing something romantic or couple-like would make Annabeth shiver or blush. Right then, it caught her off-guard, making her blush madly. Luke had told her that it was cute when she blushed but she had her suspicions that he was lying. He had a good poker face and had always been able to get away when lying.

“No, I have to get started on the History project, Luke. It’s due next week.” Annabeth said.

“So? You can do it the night before it’s due, right?” Luke said, as if he solved the problem.

The thing was, he never made good decisions. Everything he did was just to benefit him; asking her to help with his homework, making her wait for him after school…Before, she didn’t mind but when she doesn’t have time to study, her grades would drop. Usually it never would but now that she was on the verge of going below 90%, it was concerning her. Annabeth didn’t want to tell Luke any of this. She was scared of what Luke could do.

She forced a smile, knowing quite well that it would fool Luke. “Yeah. I can do that.”

“Great. Walk with me.” Luke said, dragging her out by the hand to his car.

Luke’s car was as appealing as anything could get. His father was apparently richer than Luke made him out to sound like and was able to afford a Lamborghini in black for him. Preferably, it was the color that Annabeth didn’t want her father to see her arrive out of. He was always convinced that boys with black vehicles uses the color to do bad at night. Annabeth found it silly but now that she thought about it, the car would camouflage in the night and if Luke were to do trouble, it would be an easy escape.

Annabeth would have gotten in if not for someone reaching out a hand to grab her wrist. She turned to see a pair of sea-green eyes staring at her; an expression to ask if she was crazy. It was shock that showed on her face and also fear. Shock that Percy had stopped her and fear that Luke and him would get into another fight.

“Where are you going. You do realise we have another lesson, right?” Percy asked, his voice seeming to be forced calm.

Luke pushed Percy back, which made him release his grip on Annabeth’s wrist. Her voice was in audible as the boys shouted over each other. She heard Percy say that he needed her since she was his partner and Luke bawling over that he had higher authority since he was her boyfriend.

“Get the hell away from us!” Luke clamoured.

Noticing Percy look at her, Annabeth knew he wouldn’t back down. He pushed Luke aside and grabbed Annabeth by the hand, which inflicted less pain than the wrist. She wanted to turn back and apologise to Luke however knowing him, it would make him more furious than he had already sounded.

A lot of screaming and cursing was made behind her, aiming towards Percy and Annabeth could have sworn she heard Luke curse her under his breath. She would have to talk about it to him some time. Percy seemed to have managed it, containing his anger and for once, Annabeth admired that part of him. It was weird that he was walking with her. Throughout last year, all he did was avoid or walk past her – not with her. It was a nice start to their partnership. Maybe he would even cooperate…

“Per—“

“Shut up. You realise that you’re late for class, right?” Percy muttered.

Suddenly all her joy – which wasn’t much – fell and was replaced guilt. How could she let her mind slip that she still had lessons? Was it Luke? No, she couldn’t blame him. It was her own fault for thinking too much and letting Luke lead her out. A part of her wanted to believe that Percy had a kind enough heart to go find her on his own free will but he probably was forced.

A guy like him would never be kind enough to think of others.

**~O.O~**

In English, Mr. Blofis was walking around, discussing project again. He already did it yesterday but because some people were “absent”, he had to repeat. The project was – yet again – on one of Shakespeare’s or Charles Dickens’ plays. Last year, their class performed Romeo and Juliet and Annabeth played the leading role, along with Luke. It was the reason why they had gotten closer and was the time when Luke’s grades were higher than this year. This year, the project they pick and was voted the most would be the play that they’d work on for the literature festival.

Yesterday, Mr. Blofis announced that Annabeth would group up with 6 other people. First was Percy, then Katie, Travis, Drew, Silena and Connor. Everyone in the group was okay with Annabeth but Percy was a very big problem. Katie and Drew minded very much but Silena, Connor and Travis didn’t care. To not fail, she would have to _force_ Percy even more.

“Okay, get into your groups. This will be the only time you are allowed to work as a group for the project considering many people were away yesterday. However, starting tomorrow, we will focus solely on Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Mr. Blofis instructed them.

Immediately, everyone stood up and rushed to their tables, like in History. Only, Percy this time, stood up and looked around. He seemed to have known that he was grouped with Annabeth and minded a lot too.

“Percy, come here!” Travis shouted, only to be punched by Katie for his volume.

Annabeth was suddenly surrounded by people bringing their desks to her. Percy, being only a metre away, slide his desk in next to her, sighing. Silena was blowing Beckendorf kisses and Connor was laughing at Travis being abused by Katie, as usual.

Drew seemed distant, quite unlike the normal Drew. She was the popular girl. She was smart and beautiful but also a bitch. Maybe it was that she finally found a boy who held her down. Annabeth heard rumours of her talking to a boy from another school going by the name Jason.

“So, we’re doing Twelfth Night?” Drew asked boredly.

Everyone looked at Annabeth expectantly but in all honesty, she didn’t have the mind to carry out a plan at the moment. Her brows furrowed as she looked down at her notebook. They had already briefed what to do yesterday yet it didn’t seem to fit together.

Drew must have noticed the stress because she turned their attentions and also Annabeth’s to her. She took out her notepad and a marker pen, writing in bold “TWELFTH NIGHT STAFFING”.

“Since you’re all not going to help, I’m going to be the one casting the roles.” Drew said.

No one said a weird as she started writing. It took her at least two minutes to finish and close her lid. Her book was flipped up so that they couldn’t see who was doing what. Until Drew turned it around, Annabeth had held in her breath.

**CAST**

**VIOLA – Travis**

**SEBASTIAN – Connor**

**DUKE ORSINO – Katie**

**OLIVIA – Drew (obviously)**

**Prop guy – Percy**

**Playwright – Annabeth**

Letting out a breath, Annabeth smiled at Drew. She helped a lot and didn’t make her a role in the play. However, knowing the others, she would have to manage things too so her and Percy would work closely together.

“WHY AM I A GIRL?” Travis demanded, glaring at Drew.

Katie was trying so hard not to blush and was hitting Travis a couple of times. Connor was winking at Drew too much, trying to get her attention whilst Drew herself was calming Travis down with her bossier voice. Percy – Annabeth noticed – was silent and looking at the list.

They worked on the project for the rest of the lesson and as it neared the end, Katie and Travis argued again. Percy was in his own world and Annabeth, Connor and Drew decided what to do for the performance.

“When are we going to work together on the project?” Travis asked, rubbing his cheek and he was finally knocked in the face by Katie’s fist.

Katie seemed satisfied even though Travis wasn’t.

“We’ll come to my house on Sunday to work on it.” Drew announced.

“I’m not going.” Percy said, looking at all of them. “And you can’t stop me.”

Standing up, Percy left the classroom. After him, the bell rang and all the students ran out of class. Unfortunately, Percy didn’t pick the same last lesson as Annabeth so she wouldn’t see him to convince him, unless she actually went to his house and forced it out.

So she asked Mr. Blofis his address before leaving class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, one more chapter for the June month. Whew! Deadline was today and now I have to get working on the next chapter for July!   
> Annabeth’s now plotting to stalk Percy home? Crazy or nah?  
> I really appreciate the reviews and opinions on ships but as a writer, I can’t promise who will end up with who. Just that Percy would face a lot of romance and conflict in the following chapters.  
> Like the story so far? Comment how sucky or good it is!


	11. He Who Was Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

Percy wasn’t having it. It was definitely not his day today: being picked to corner and beat up, partnering up with Annabeth, grouping _with_ Annabeth again! Was it ruin-Percy’s-life-yet-again day? He was sure that he already experienced the misery of that day already.

His last class didn’t go swell either. Though swimming activities in gym lessons were considered his best, the people he was put with didn’t brighten his day. Of course only the students with the best physical abilities attended the gym sessions – Paul thanked god for Percy’s strength – and apparently Luke was considered to be one of the best.

Coach Gleeson Hedge, preferably called “Coach” or “Sir” (or “Gleeson” by Percy whenever he wanted to be in detention), was marching along the side of the pool in his white loafers and swimming trunks. Coach had a lot of chest hair, and by a lot, he had a _lot_. For a stocky man, he held himself well in his cap and whistle. People feared him and wouldn’t want to get hit by the bat he mentioned in every lesson.

Luke, with one of his cronies, was discussing not very discretely about the size of the girls’ chests again. Percy found it strange that the girls didn’t shout at him or tell the teacher because surely if Percy voiced what he thought of their chests, they’d report it directly to the principal. It surprised Percy that not many of the girls feared him, mostly because they all hung and talked with _Annabeth_.

“Castellan!” Coach shouted above the voices of the students.

With a slight shake, Luke turned his head in the direction of Coach Hedge. An irritated expression displayed on his face. “What up, Coach?”

“I’d like you to come down and do thirty breaststrokes non-stop, for me.” Coach replied.

“Pfft! Thirty? I can do fifty in my _sleep_.” Luke bragged, though Percy doubted his statement.

When Luke took off his jacket, most of the girls gasped at his body. It wasn’t new. They always did that and quite frankly, Percy believed that Luke paid them to do it. Luke wasn’t all that great but neither was Percy. Sure, Luke had a bulging six pack and Percy’s was faint, but Luke’s don’t fit him. It was like he was on steroids!

So, after all the ruckus cleared up, Coach instructed everyone to swim laps. He wasn’t really a good teacher since the minute Percy slid into the deep end, Luke began to “playfully” drown him. His cronies were snickering and by the time Percy was losing oxygen, Luke had already pulled him up. Coach didn’t even witness a thing, and if he did he didn’t care. It wasn’t all that bad, though. The waters were Percy’s domain, not Luke’s. And since Percy was a better swimmer, he got out of Luke’s grasp and swam around trying not to get caught.

**~O.O~**

By the time swimming was over, Percy had rushed out of the school building and hit the streets. He was not going to stop and let Luke drive him into another one of his stupid fights.

As he walked down his neighbourhood, Percy subconsciously gazed at Calypso’s house opposite his. He prayed that she would come over to spend some time with him. Percy needed someone who’d listen to what he had to say about his day. It was so exhausting.

When he finally reached his house, he walked straight up the stairs and to his room, collapsing on the bed. For countless minutes, Percy stared up at the ceiling thinking about Bianca and Nico, the two siblings whose been in his life before the tragedy of his parents. He thought about what happened between him and Bianca, which was immediately diverted to Calypso and her smile. These feelings. These unnecessary feelings that he gained from just encountering two amazing people. Why did his heart have to ache for two people? Why did it even have to ache?

At that moment, the bell rang, bringing Percy to his feet. His face was red as he looked in the mirror, which he despised. Then he walked down the stairs, taking a peep in the peephole at the door.

On the other side was no other than the lady he was thinking of just a second ago. Opening the door, the side of Percy’s lips turned up, embracing the gentle vibe and beauty of his friend.

“Calypso. Surprised to see you here.” He said.

Calypso in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, smiled warmly at him. Her hands were behind her back, like she was hiding something, and her hair was tucked in a bun. Percy would have never admitted it in that moment to her but she was stunning, even if the style was simple and casual.

In response to his comment, Calypso giggled lightly and leaned on one foot. “I bet not. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” Percy said, taking a step to the side to allow her in.

Calypso had already chosen to sit on the couch by the time Percy had closed the door and walked into the living room. She had a small box in her hand, no sign of it being opened, which made Percy curious.

“What you got there?” He said as he took a seat beside her.

Judging by the look on her face, Calypso didn’t know either but she opened it anyway. Inside was a blue and worn out rubber…band? Percy was puzzled. Utterly puzzled that he didn’t have the voice to speak.

However, Calypso started laughing and held the rubber band in her hand. She showed it to him too and seemed to admire the hidden message within. Percy felt that he shouldn’t have asked but he did anyway.

“Why?”

Calypso stared up at him with her brilliant brown eyes and smiled. “It’s an inside joke passed around in my family. But, the colour blue represents courage and determination in my family. I’m supposed to wear this for a month and I wanted to open it with my only friend here.”

“I’m touched.” Percy sarcastically said.

Though, he did feel glad. Blue was his favourite colour and if it meant courage and determination, he’d try to be that someday. Maybe, if Calypso stayed by his side a little longer, he’d finally move on from what he was trying to run away from.

Calypso scoffed and shoved him lightly on the shoulder. “Shut your mouth.”

Percy smiled a little and leaned back, closing his eyes for a second to relax and enjoy his time with Calypso. It seemed so secret and so dangerous that he didn’t think he could tell Bianca about her. It felt like if he did, she’d disappear and wouldn’t even leave a trace of herself.

“How was school?” Calypso asked, bringing Percy back from his daydream.

Percy bit his lip, not sure how to respond to the question. Would he lie or tell the truth? She didn’t go to his school so maybe he could lie and sound somewhat like a prince? But what if his father told her all about his reputation and detentions?

“Awesome.” That was definitely a lie.

Of course it was a lie because Calypso saw right through it when she raised a brow. He looked horrible from the fight and, unless he’s angry, anyone can point out what a liar he was. Hopefully she’d let it slide and not ask questions. He didn’t want to be angry at Calypso. She was the last person he wanted to snap at and push away. She was the _only_ one he didn’t want to push away.

“Really? Because my father was asking me what school I wanted to go to and I suggested yours.” Calypso let out a small laugh.

And it doomed Percy.

If she applied at the school, she’d definitely get in. Goode High School accepts _everyone_ and she was part of that “everyone”. What would he do? Pretend he didn’t know her? Act like they’ve been best friends for years? The kids at school wouldn’t be around her if they knew she hung out with him.

Calypso probably understood that he didn’t want to talk about school anymore since she changed the topic. He didn’t like himself for being like this. Calypso made him want to change but he went so far through with it that he never could.

Then the doorbell rang.

It threw Percy off and when Calypso went to get the door, he had to leap up and stop her. Paul didn’t come home until late in the night and it was only the afternoon. Who would be at the door?

Telling Calypso to stay put, Percy slowly and carefully walked to the door. He looked into the peep hole of the door to find nothing but a hair full of blonde. He cursed the fact that the peep hole hadn’t been fixed. It was too blurry. However, the locks of blonde seemed to only remind him of the one person he didn’t want to ever see in his neighbourhood.

When he opened the door, standing at his doormat was exactly that one person.

Annabeth Chase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh! Annabeth is here!  
> What’s Percy going to do? Calypso’s right there in the living room?  
> But hold up, hold up! What is this that Percy’s feeling? About Calypso? What about Bianca?  
> Sorry that this chapter was cut shorter than the others but I hope you all still like the story so far!


	12. She Who Doesn't Give Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t want it to happen, it just did. Everything that meant something to him just left. Vanished. Disappeared. He threw everything meaningful aside. He ignored society, the community and his ‘so-called-friends’. He ruined his own life, built up a mask to protect himself, to protect others. But he wasn’t happy. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES OR CHARACTERS!
> 
> Major Pairings: Percabeth, Jasper, Gruniper, Caleo, Solangelo, Frazel  
> Minor Pairings: Pernico, Percy x Bianca, Percy x Calypso, Percy x Rachel, Annabeth x Luke, Percy x Reyna, Jason x Reyna, Pipercy (Percy x Piper - maybe bromance?), Hazel x Leo

Annabeth didn’t go home to get changed so it felt uncomfortable when she saw Percy’s expression of disbelief. She felt unhygienic but Percy didn’t say anything about the clothes. It was like she could _hear_ his thoughts. He didn’t like that she was here but to be fair, it was his fault. The pairing was unbearable but she _needed_ the grades.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” She heard Percy say, screwing his eyebrows together.

With a sigh, she crossed her arms and leaned on one leg. She did not have time for his games. She only had time for their project, which they should be doing.

“I’m here for the assignment, as promised.” Annabeth said.

She heard Percy growl “what promise?” but she didn’t answer. Instead she followed the path that led to the living room. What she found inside was so out-of-the-ordinary. Annabeth would have been more convinced that Percy learned ballet than finding out that he had _female_ company in his house. She hadn’t even known her mouth had dropped open until the pretty girl in front of her blushed and pointed to her mouth.

“I didn’t know you had…a guest. I should get going—“ Annabeth said, quickly making a move to leave.

“No! I’ll go. I’ve been here for a while now and I heard you have a project together.” The pretty girl said, making her way out to the door. “Please. I wouldn’t want Percy to fail his lessons because of me.”

“Calypso, wait! I can do this another ti—“ Percy tried to say.

“Like hell you could, Percy!” Annabeth snapped.

He just gave her a look like all of this was her fault.

“No, do your thing. I’ll pop by another time.” The girl – Calypso – said, smiling to Annabeth before leaving.

When the door closed, Percy let out a loud sigh and deathly glare towards Annabeth. He muttered some curse words under his breath and stamped up the stairs. Annabeth followed after him, glaring as hard as she could into his back, hoping that a hole would magically go straight through him. They were in his room before she even knew it and _wow_ was she impressed! For a punk like him, Percy’s room was a lot…brighter than she had expected. It was all shades of blue, going from neon to navy. All this even made his eyes stand out more.

“Cold War, right?” Percy asked, looking at her in the eyes.

They were both standing in the middle of his room and he had a cardboard box in his hands. His facial expression was hard to read but you could tell he wanted to get this over and done with. Annabeth kind of didn’t know what to do since she had it all planned out that she’d force him to cooperate. This was too easy.

“…Yeah. Do you have any ideas?” She asked, looking around.

“Uh huh. I was thinking…”

Then Percy started rambling about their project. It all came at once to her, like she was hit by a train. Before today, she saw nothing but shades in his eyes but right at this moment, shots of all the colours of the rainbow appeared. He spoke about how to structure the soldiers they were going to make and that he’d make the scene and she designs it. This was a win-win, considering she loved architecture.

And before she knew it, Percy was done speaking. Maybe it was because he was rambling like it was stupid, or it could be that Annabeth was smiling and giggling for some god damn stupid reason. Either way, the mood was killed.

“Let’s just get started.” He muttered.

During that time, Annabeth wondered why he opened up about his ideas. He’s never done anything like this since freshmen year. However, this was a good start to their session. They began working on their project almost in silence. A couple of comments on planning and debating what to buy on their tight schedule but all in all, she thought that this partnership thing was working smoothly. It was weird. Never once in her life did she find content in the company of Percy. Annabeth would steal a couple glances at Percy, finding herself nodding in approval of the fact that Percy was actually trying. Once, maybe twice – okay, three times – Percy had caught her gaze but as a response, she got the cold shoulders.

By the time Mr. Blofis had gotten home, it was already 9PM and Annabeth was finished sketching the, what she calls, “blueprints” for their project. Percy had fallen asleep, tired from overworking (though in Annabeth’s dictionary she would call it underworking). She called it quits when Mr. Blofis came into the room, knocking the door, of course.

“Ah, Annabeth. Had I have known you were here, I would have made some cookies.” Mr. Blofis said, giving her a warm smile.

Annabeth’s lips curled up, mirroring his expression as she stood up. She dusted off invisible dirt off her jeans before picking up her bag.

“That’s okay, sir. I hadn’t planned on staying long.”

He nodded and walked past her, pulling the blanket over Percy so that he didn’t freeze at night. Annabeth could see the loving look in her English teacher’s eyes as they gazed down at the blissful Percy. She could tell that this man loved Percy, though they were nowhere near related, and she felt pity because she knew that the sleeping boy didn’t reciprocate the feelings.

“Would you like a lift home, Annabeth?” Mr. Blofis had said, turning his eyes onto her.

With a pleasant smile, she nodded. It would have been safer for her to be driven home rather than walk home in the dark. She technically didn’t live near them either. Picking up her school bag and jacket, Annabeth made her way to the door, Mr. Blofis following behind her. It took them a while to leave since he had to find his car keys, which he had forgotten that he left in his pocket and not on the hook.

They entered the car in silence. It was a little weird being in a car with a teacher who coincidently was the foster father of a boy she didn’t like. However, the atmosphere wasn’t intolerable. Soon enough, Mr. Blofis broke the silence as he turned down the street.

“Annabeth, I’m very glad that you gave part of your time to get Percy to work on his studies. I know he’s a handful and quite,” Mr. Blofis chuckled weakly, “rude but he’s a good kid.”

Annabeth nodded though she couldn’t ever imagine Percy being _good_ but then again, she should really stop judging him.

“As a matter of fact, he’s even gotten a job with mentoring a boy.” Mr. Blofis added.

That news alarmed Annabeth and it made her eyes widen. She was so stricken that she had her back to the passenger door, feeling the seatbelt dig into her arm. Annabeth didn’t even have kids to tutor or mentor. How the hell did a below average boy like Percy get a job like _that_?

“I just hope that you two get along well. He’s lonely all the time and I know he doesn’t like it.” Mr. Blofis said before stopping right outside her house.

Annabeth was about ready to leave. She even looked at Mr. Blofis to bid him safe travels. Staring right back at her were her teacher’s brown eyes as his brows came together.

“He’s a good kid, Annabeth. Give him the chance to prove it.” Mr. Blofis said before adding, “and you can call me Paul outside of school.”

Annabeth nodded and said her goodbyes before walking up to her door. She took Paul’s words to heart, though she didn’t mean to and she doubted that Percy treated Paul well. You could just tell whenever Percy and him talk. She wasn’t supposed to care since Percy and hers’ partnership was only temporary and after that, they’ll go straight back to ignoring each other. However, just today; just the fact that Percy had cooperated and worked hard with her; just that Paul had said so many nice things about him, she’ll try more than just be civil.

**~O.O~**

“Is that you, honey?”

Annabeth heard her father call her name from the living room. To be honest, she was surprised her father was even up. Usually on weekdays, Fredrick Chase would come home too tired to do anything other than sleep. Her step mother, Helen, would come to his rescue and help him up the stairs (and Annabeth was help most of the time).

“Yeah, dad. It’s me.” She replied, walking into the living room.

Surrounding the coffee table were her father, who was reading a book on mechanics, Helen, who was eating a cookie whilst watching her soap opera, and the boys: Bobby and Matthew. Bobby and Matthew were her twin brothers (half to be exact but she never calls them that) who looked nothing like Annabeth herself. Whilst she bore blonde hair, the twins had mops of dark brown locks inherited from Helen. Their eyes were brown like her father’s but one thing that they had in common with Annabeth was the smile. Well, the slight smile was something that Annabeth, Fredrick, Bobby and Matthew had in common. Anyway, the boys were playing with their MEGA building blocks they got for Christmas. The twins were already 10 years old but they loved building things then using their action figures to knock them down.

Don’t need to warn Annabeth twice that she shouldn’t trust them with building _her_ buildings in the future.

“Ah, Annabeth. How come you were out for so long?” Her father asked, peeling his eyes off the newspaper to speak with her.

Annabeth shrugged and took her bag off her back. “I came back from doing a project with my partner. Sorry I didn’t tell you. It was kind of last minute.”

Instead of her father answering, Helen did instead. Helen was a short and petite Asian woman. Her hair a dark brown with brown eyes. She didn’t wear much makeup because she was already beautiful and her skin glowed. It didn’t really disturb Annabeth that her step mother was too pretty. She only cared about who Luke thought of her and he told her that she was prettier than Helen.

“At least you could have given us a text. We were very worried when you didn’t come home at the scheduled time.”

There again the woman spoke about schedule. Yeah, Helen was nice and the “perfect step mother” but Annabeth knew the cruelty behind her words. In front of her father, Helen would be so amazing and caring that you’d think nothing was wrong but every damn day that he was gone, Annabeth was locked behind bars, damned to be instructed with chores. She was basically the Cinderella of the Brothers Grimm tales.

“Sorry.” Annabeth muttered. “But…How come you’re still…”

“Awake? Active? Alive?” Her father finished for her with a laugh. He didn’t need a nod from Annabeth to continue. “My workplace allowed me to finish early today. It was a shame that you weren’t here to spend the evening out. We had dinner.”

Her heart sank at the words. Her family had dinner without her…again. They didn’t even send a text or call to ask. Heck, if they were so worried, why didn’t they _call_ her instead of her calling them? It was the more logical thing to do that to complain! But Annabeth didn’t say how she felt. She’s dealt with this for so long that she picked up her bag.

“…Oh. I hoped you had a nice dinner. I had a meal with my friend and their parents so you didn’t need to worry about making dinner.” Annabeth said, plastering on a fake smile as she ran out of the living room and up to her room.

As the door shut behind her, tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her lips wouldn’t stop quivering as she made her way slowly to the bed. Every step, her stomach growled, begging to feast on something, but she had to calm it. There was no way she could get anything now. She told her parents that she ate, she dug that hole for herself. It’s not like they’d care if she was hungry anyway. Annabeth knew of course. It’s happened before.

_“I’m hungry.” Annabeth groaned, sitting up from her bed._

_She glanced at her bedside table and saw that it was already 6PM. Judging by the fact that her father or stepmother didn’t wake her up yet, it meant that dinner hadn’t been made yet. So, joyous and hungry, Annabeth skipped down the stairs, only to halt when she heard laughter coming from the dining room._

_Never once in her life had she ever heard laughter come from the dining room. Sure there were exchanges of smiles across the dinner table but everything was serious and silent. However, she guessed today was different. Creeping up to the door, she heard Helen and her father speaking._

_“Bobby! Matthew! Stop playing with your food!” Her father said, laughing uncontrollably._

_Bobby and Matthew seemed to keep doing it. Not even Helen stopped them._

_“Oh honey, these boys are such a hassle, aren’t they?” Helen asked._

_“Yes, dear. But it’s such a perfect night with my perfect family, nothing could disturb this.”_

_Now, Annabeth’s father didn’t say it loud. His voice was in a whisper but since his seat was opposite the door that Annabeth stood at, she heard loud and clear._

_“Perfect family”. It was such a cold and hard stab to her heart that Annabeth couldn’t move. Her body shook a little. This perfect family they had was surely just between them four, leaving her out. She didn’t fit into their perfect family. Why would she when she was a constant reminder of the pain her mother inflicted on her father?_

_“Wait, we forgot about Annabeth.” Her father suddenly said._

_A sudden flash of hope sparked her body as she listened closely. He did think of her. She wasn’t just a useless part of their family—_

_“Oh, Annabeth already ate earlier. She told me that she went to eat with her friends.” Helen said._

_But that wasn’t true. Like every other day, Annabeth went straight home from school to do chores. She never even told Helen about her friends. She made a mistake of sleeping because of course Helen would lie. Of course she wouldn’t come up stairs to tell Annabeth that dinner was ready. Helen didn’t really like Annabeth at all. She’d even let her_ starve _._

_Annabeth didn’t listen in on what her father had to say. She didn’t want him to agree with the woman. She just ran out of the house and onto the pavement. She wandered around for countless of minutes and when she was about to turn back and surrender to the defeat; scavenge around the fridge for any leftovers, she came across a boy._

_He was admittedly the most handsome boy that Annabeth had ever met. The boy had sandy blonde hair and Annabeth knew this because the streetlights were right on him. He was taller than her and damn was his jawline sharp. She moved closer and could see his blue eyes. Ones that tempted her closer and closer…_

_“Hey there, wanderer. I’m Luke.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was some strange turn of events, eh? I wanted to add in some details as to how Annabeth ended up meeting Luke.  
> And as you can tell, she didn’t meet him during high school…  
> I mean, how old was she when she met him? I surely wouldn’t know… *wink**wink*  
> I know, I know. You want more percabeth but you need to be patient, guys. I’m building up to that part and before that, they have to overcome some difficult obstacles.  
> One is mainly the Luke-being-Annabeth’s-boyfriend problem…and others like Percy’s other love interests ;)  
> Enjoy this, though!

**Author's Note:**

> I might be able to post a chapter every month? I just want to know if you guys like it.


End file.
